PEN Club de México	PEN México: Pajaritas de Papel	Ciudad de México 2003: Congreso Mundial del PEN	Quién es Quién

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICAN PEN

"CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION"

Dear PEN Colleagues:

The "Americas" Congress, which will take place in Mexico City from November 22- 28, 2003, is the first World Congress of Writers of the new millennium to be held on the American Continent.

The Congress theme, "Cultural Diversity and Freedom of Expression", gives us the opportunity to work on two essential aspects of PEN's core mission. The first is respect for the human rights of those whose medium is the word, and, in particular, the written word, deployed either in creative writing or through daily narratives and testimonies. The second is respect for sovereignty and cultural diversity, which is so essential in the face of the increasingly antidemocratic tendencies that threaten to dominate the world.

The trend towards economic globalization challenges us to avoid cultural homogenization and safeguard diverse ways of life and languages, many of which, as with minority indigenous languages, are already in danger of disappearing. Mexico was selected as the site for this Congress because it is a country where different cultures have cohabitated and coexisted.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, Mexican philosopher José Vasconcelos imagined the existence of the Cosmic race, a product of the crossbreeding of all peoples. It now seems that new communication technologies have outrun us so that the ideal of a completely mixed-race humanity living in equality, free from the intolerances that often lead to war and conflict, has been replaced by a "globalized humanity" whose characteristics are social injustice and cultural homogeneity.

Near the end of the 20th Century, we realized that perhaps the main cause for the economic and spiritual underdevelopment of many nations has been the lack of respect for the cultural and economic rights of the individual. That is why, through this Congress, we wish to call attention to the fact that human development cannot be achieved as long as we continue to push cultural, educational and economic rights into oblivion, and that it is urgent and necessary to view these as civil and political rights.

Through this Congress, we are attempting to call upon humanity to reflect on its values and its visions as they are expressed, in their highest form, in written and spoken language. The loss of this cultural treasure would impoverish us and deny us the opportunity to use our knowledge of our past in order to shape not only one unique future, but the newest and best futures possible.

The 69th PEN International Congress- World Congress of Writers 2003, seeks to show the world that tolerance and respect can only survive through the free expression of diversity.

María Elena Ruiz Cruz

President, Mexican PEN

C O N T E N T S