Madrid, Spain. – The Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) participated prominently in the Madrid Book Fair with a program of activities aimed at promoting culture, reading, and Dominican intellectual production, reaffirming its commitment to the dissemination of knowledge and the strengthening of cultural ties between the Dominican Republic and Spain.
The program included the institutional opening of the GFDD stand, presentations of publications and editorial projects, meetings with writers and academics, interviews with Dominican and Spanish media outlets, as well as open dialogues with the attending public.
GFDD President Dr. Leonel Fernández also toured the fair, where he interacted with visitors, authors, and representatives of the cultural sector.
During the opening ceremony, Fernández highlighted the effort made to enable the institution’s presence at one of the most important literary events in the Spanish-speaking world.
“Being here symbolizes a life lesson. There are things that at first seem impossible, but they are achieved thanks to willpower and the desire to make them real,” he said, while thanking the teams from the Dominican Republic and Spain for the installation of the exhibition space.
The GFDD President especially acknowledged the support of engineers Francisco Gómez and José Espinal, as well as GFDD Spain Director Ynés Vargas, whose leadership made the institution’s participation in the fair possible.
Fernández also highlighted the growth of the foundation’s publishing work, noting that GFDD Publishing has released 243 titles, establishing itself as a platform for the dissemination of ideas, research, and cultural expressions.
He further emphasized the trajectory of Global magazine, which has reached 108 editions, with its content now digitized for public access.
“Our perspectives are expressed through books and through our Global magazine. We are translating our publications so that our ideas can be disseminated internationally,” he stated.
He also underscored the importance of the Dominican Cultural Dictionary, a work he described as a synthesis of the country’s diverse artistic and cultural expressions, currently being translated into several languages to expand its international reach.
Regarding the impact of new technologies on publishing, Fernández noted that artificial intelligence is a tool that facilitates translation processes, while emphasizing the need to preserve human involvement. “It makes the work easier, but it must always be humanized at the end. It must have that human touch,” he said.
For his part, Francisco Gómez highlighted the logistical effort involved in transporting materials from the Dominican Republic and setting up the space in record time. “It is impressive how GFDD has managed to set up this space here at the fair. We have a small but very representative sample of the foundation’s intellectual production,” he said.
He also invited visitors to approach the institutional stand to learn about GFDD’s publications and projects that promote critical thinking, culture, and democracy.
GFDD’s participation in the Madrid Book Fair represents another step in its strategy of cultural and academic internationalization, strengthening the presence of Dominican thought in global settings and consolidating bridges of cooperation between Europe and Latin America through books, research, and knowledge exchange.
