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

MESSAGE FROM THE MEXICAN NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CULTURE AND THE ARTS
(CONACULTA)

TO THE WRITERS, EDITORS AND TRANSLATORS OF THE WORLD
GATHERED IN MACEDONIA 2002

It will be an honor for Mexico to have the opportunity to welcome you in November of 2003 for the 69th PEN International Congress- the World Congress of Writers.

This Congress, which has as a primary objective highlighting the literature of the Americas, will highlight the importance of freedom of expression in allowing for the written word to serve as an essential medium of cultural expression.

The Congress, also known as the Congress of the Americas, presents the opportunity for the writers of our hemisphere and the writers from the rest of the world to show, once again, that rational dialogue among diverse peoples is possible and that this diversity and cultural plurality are a great wealth for present and future generations.

For Mexico, this Congress is especially significant since as a government and as a society we have jointly initiated an action program called "Toward a country of readers" to permanently promote reading at all levels and throughout the country.

As Mexico's cultural diversity and its new democratic awakening suggest, writers and the Mexican government share the humanistic ideals that will be expressed in the upcoming World Congress of Writers. It is a common project that unites and identifies us.

Sari Bermúdez
CONACULTA President

C O N T E N T S