Ocean Press

LA JORNADA (Mexico)

March 11, 2008

By Mónica Mateos-Vega

Convinced of the need to tell "the other part" of world history, Australian publishing house Ocean Press is boosting "a new, extraordinary, independent Latin American publishing venture" through its twin editorial project Ocean Sur, devoted to spreading "the voices of the past, present and future revolutionary thinking" in this continent.

From Simón Bolívar and José Martí to Haydée Santamaría, Roque Dalton, Ernesto Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez: they all have room on the pages of various books and journals Ocean Sur distributes in Latin America and the United States to "promote discussion, debate and circulation of the ideas of the revitalized left-wing."

Interviewed by La Jornada, Ocean Press director David Deutschmann said his publishing house's commitment to the revolutionary processes in America stems from the presence in Australia, its remoteness notwithstanding, of "progressive sectors, similar to those in England or Canada". And he added: "It's our obligation and duty to boost an initiative like Ocean Sur, because we cannot make money selling only Che Guevara's work, which we have the rights to publish outside Cuba.

"We have published all his works in English, but not all of it is in Spanish, so it's our duty to translate it and take it not only to big city bookstores, but also to the peoples of Bolivia, El Salvador, Colombia or Argentina; all over America."

Starting from that premise, the publishing house spreads, among others, "the best of left-wing and social movement thinking; the voices of the indigenous peoples and women in the continent; the writings on revolutionary theory, politics and philosophy by leading figures of the Latin America's intelligentsia, as well as the main contributions from revolutionary artists, poets and activists."

In Central America, Deutschmann points out, "the books of top publishers like Planeta, Mondadori or Santillana never reach the people, unlike ours, because we work together with progressive forces in each countries, selling at low prices without sacrificing the design or content.

"We're proving an alternative editorial project is possible, since neither Ocean Press nor Ocean Sur have any source of income other than book sales.

"Never in the 20 years of existence of the former and the two years of the latter have we made one cent from any government, foundation or NGO; nor have we received any donations, and we're talking about an annual budget of millions of dollars.

"A self-financed publishing house is possible. Of course that Ocean Press subsidizes Ocean Sur, that is, we use money from North America to fund our publishing project in the south. But we're also proving that the topics we address arouse great interest among readers.

"For instance, Che Guevara's books have been a great success in the US, where his [Motorcycle] Diaries has sold almost half a million copies in three years. The book was among the 10 best-sellers the same week that George W. Bush was reelected. Some people think there's no interest for left-wing ideas in that country, but these figures prove them wrong."

One of Ocean Sur's projects is the publication in Mexico of the one-year-old quarterly Contexto Latinoamericano, a magazine aimed at promoting the exchange of ideas among party leaders and activists and left-wing political and social organizations and movements.

The intention is to give a voice to all currents:"from the radical to the most progressive ones, they all have a space," remarks Roberto Regalado, editor of this publication, which, he says, "reaffirms the need to build sustainable societies free of national and class domination and inequality based on gender, race, culture, religious belief, age bracket and sexual orientation."

Contexto Latinoamericano also serves to "denounce imperialist domination, interference and intervention in the south, particularly in Latin America; foster solidarity with the Cuban and Bolivarian revolutions, and support the rescue of national sovereignty and patrimony and the adoption of policies for the benefit of the people by the left-wing and progressive forces who succeed to power in the continent," to name a few purposes.

Due in April, the next issue will include a discussion from different viewpoints about Colombia's recent clash with Ecuador and Venezuela after Colombian fighter planes bombed a camp run by the FARC in Ecuadorian territory.

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2008/03/11/index.php?section=cultura&article=a04n1cul

http://www.oceansur.com