Poets Demand Exclusive Use of Cultural Space in Mexico City Dialogue

A delegation from the Committee for the Defense of the House of Poet Ramón López Velarde is set to engage in a dialogue with the Mexico City Secretariat of Culture. The committee announced their participation in the second round of discussions via a statement outlining 11 specific demands.

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We reiterate the demand that officials do not commit improper and abusive acts against participants, as happened in the demonstration on June 12.

Central to their demands is the exclusive use of the "Café-bar Las Hormigas" for poetry readings and literary presentations. The committee strongly opposes any programming that includes "spectacles alien to its vocation" or attempts to "diversify" literary engagement in ways they feel are unnecessary. They assert that poetry and literature do not require officials to "diversify" access through authoritarian decisions, arguing the House already attracts a broad and diverse audience from across the country.

The group also voiced opposition to what they describe as "opportunistic gentrification" of the space, particularly concerns about its conception as a nightlife venue. They are demanding transparency from the Secretariat of Culture regarding the operational mechanism for beverage sales, insisting it should not become a lucrative business. Furthermore, they seek information on whether the space has been or will be concessioned to a private entity, and if so, details of the public bidding process.

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We demand that the mechanism for operating the sale of beverages be made public, and whether it is contemplated or was contemplated to concession it to a private individual.

Additionally, the committee demands that the institutional policy of freely granting the "Café-bar Las Hormigas" space to poets and editors for book launches, magazine presentations, and poetry readings be maintained. This policy, they argue, ensures diversity and plurality by requiring only the donation of a book for the House's editorial fund. They reject any institutional "curatorship" that could be discriminatory and oppose the installation of a branch of the Economic Culture Fund or new offices like PROCINECDMX within the historic space.

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We demand that the open, diverse, and plural character of the institution be respected and that the agenda be determined by the poetic community itself, which over the years has built it with its activities.