More than 40 American publishing professionals traveled to Cuba in February as part of the first U.S. publishing mission to visit the Feria Internacional del Libro de La Habana (Havana International Book Fair), and to participate in four days of dialogue with their counterparts in the Cuban publishing industry.

Among those who made the trip were four Cuban-Americans, including Raquel Roque, who was born in Cuba and raised in Miami. Roque’s father, Jose Rábade, operated a bookstore—with titles in Spanish and English—called Rábade Libros y Revistas in Havana from 1949 to 1965. In 1965 the family moved to Miami, and shortly after, Rábade opened Downtown Book Center. The bookstore grew and became one of the premier wholesalers and distributors of Spanish-language books in the U.S. The retail location closed in 2011, but Roque runs the wholesale and distribution arms of Downtown Book Center and serves as a bookseller consultant. Among her clients is South Florida’s Books & Books. She has been joined in the business by her daughter, Alyson.

Read more here