MEXICO CITY — The big question is being posed constantly at this week's Mexico City Book Fair, but it's not about writers, readers or publishers.
"What do you think about the wall?" shouted a man with a long white beard, resembling an El Greco prophet, toward the end of a round table with a group of L.A. authors here a few days ago.
He was referring, of course, to the planned 700-mile, double-steel fence that the U.S. Senate recently approved building along the U.S.-Mexico border. President Bush is expected to sign the legislation into law soon.
The proposed wall, which is fiercely opposed by most people here, has become Topic A in Mexican politics. Over the last few days, with a delegation of about 50 L.A. writers and artists in town as guests of this capital's sixth annual bibliophiles festival, the wall has become an issue of urgent cultural import too.
At several of the panels, readings, performances and movie screenings taking place as part of the 10-day fair, Mexican audiences turned their curiosity -- and sometimes a touch of their frustration -- on the Angeleno visitors, pressing to hear the visitors' thoughts on the muchdespised barrier.
Many of the Angelenos, several of whom have Mexican or other Latin American roots, seemed to share their hosts' dim view of the plan.
"There's much talk of walls. I've spent my life dealing with them. I've spent my life facing them," said Judith F. Baca, artist and founder of the Venice-based SPARC community art center, while taking part in a panel on art and women. "This is a battle in the United States for the minds of the people and my fear is that we are losing this battle."
Earlier in the day at the L.A. authors round table, held under a large white tent in the capital's central plaza, several audience members began calling out questions related to the wall, and pleading for the panelists to respond. "It's an important issue!" one man shouted.
Panelist Luis J. Rodriguez, co-founder of Tia Chucha's Cafe Cultural in Sylmar, said the wall was racist and a waste of resources. Nina Revoyr, author of the well-regarded novels "Southland" and "The Necessary Hunger," said it was hypocritical of the United States to welcome some immigrants as low-paid workers while trying to keep others out.
And so it went during the opening days of one of the world's largest Spanish-speaking literary gatherings. Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to attend the fair, which is free and open to the public, and wraps up Sunday afternoon.
