Foreign Branches of Fondo de Cultura Económica

FCE Argentina

The first foreign branch of Fondo de Cultura Económica was inaugurated in 1945 in Argentina; first directed by Arnaldo Orfila Reynal, it quickly became an essential reference point among Argentine academics. For more than half a century the branch of FCE in Argentina has promoted Mexican culture and its topmost scientific and literary writers. During the 1990s, FCE Argentina started its own very important editorial program that alternates the publishing of Argentine and foreign writers through translations. This branch has also started a program for technological innovation that allows it to print books in very short runs (POD), something that has proven to be more and more essential in the publishing industry today.

FCE Brazil

Established June 21, 1991, the Azteca bookstore of Fondo de Cultura Económica in Brazil has the role of promoting the works of Mexican and other Latin American writers, as well as maintaining the very important linguistic exchange among Portuguese and Spanish-speaking communities in Brazil.

FCE Chile

Even though Fondo de Cultura Económica has been present in Chile since 1954, the real beginning of this foreign branch was in 1989, after diplomatic relations between Mexico and this country were reestablished in 1973. This branch has consolidated its own editorial program through the joint publishing of books with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Economical Commission for Latin America. Through its own bookstore the Chilean branch has distributed books throughout the country and strengthened the cultural exchange between Chile, Mexico and other Latin American countries.

FCE Colombia

Fondo de Cultura Económica established a distributing agency in Colombia in 1975 that aimed to import and distribute books that were originally printed in Mexico. However, this role was very quickly surpassed when in 1984 the foreign branch of FCE Colombia was formally constituted as a publishing house in Bogotá. Since then, this branch’s role has been to reprint and market important titles for the Colombian readers in order to reduce their selling costs.

In 2000 FCE Colombia acquired its own building, thus constituting a nationwide distribution network and its very own library in which it offers our editorial catalog. FCE Colombia has continued growing in importance, and in 2007 its Cultural Centre will open in Bogotá’s historic center.

FCE Guatemala and Central America

Since 1998, the branch of Fondo de Cultura Económica in Guatemala has done nothing but grow and expand, with the opening of a Cultural Centre which encompasses an auditorium, a library and, soon, a theatre. It also has room for exhibits and a children’s corner in which young readers can enjoy the books. FCE Guatemala is also complemented by a bookstore inside the Universidad Francisco Marroquin.

FCE’s branch in Guatemala has an intense program for promoting and commercializing our books throughout the Central American region. Additionally, an editorial program was started in 2000 that specializes in printing Mayan-Spanish bilingual books by famous Guatemalan authors.

FCE Peru

In 1975 the branch of Fondo de Cultura Económica in Lima, Peru, opened its doors. Since then, besides becoming the point of dissemination for the FCE's catalog, it became the place in which many famous Peruvian authors and intellectuals gathered. Later, FCE Peru turned into the cornerstone for the signing of agreements with various universities and institutions, such as the Mayor de San Marcos, the Universidad Católica de Lima and the Universidad San Agustín de Arequipa. These agreements have helped a great deal in promoting Mexican and other Latin American authors in this country.

FCE Spain

The branch of Fondo de Cultura Económica in Spain was established on April 24, 1963. FCE Spain has signed multiple agreements with prestigious universities. It has co-published, among many other works, the collections Biblioteca Premios Cervantes with the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, and Génesis y desarrollo del Estado moderno in collaboration with the European Science Foundation.

It has also collaborated with numerous Spanish institutions in organizing book tours and signings, as well as conferences and lectures by both Latin American and Mexican authors, promoting their culture throughout the European continent.

FCE USA

FCE USA is the foreign branch of Mexican publishing house Fondo de Cultura Económica in the United States.

Established on September 7, 1990, the branch of Fondo de Cultura Económica in San Diego, California, is ever expanding with the mission of promoting and broadcasting the works of Mexican and Latin American authors among the population of Hispanic origin in the United States.

In order to augment its presence in the USA, FCE USA signed an agreement with Lectorum-Scholastic for the distribution and commercialization of books among the latter’s library and school networks

FCE Venezuela

The building in which the branch of Fondo de Cultura Económica in Venezuela is established was inaugurated in 1994, and it comprises a bookstore, the administrative offices and a distribution company.

Even though the demand for books in Venezuela is relatively small, FCE’s branch in this country has positioned itself as a leader in the internal market with the opening of two bookstores in Caracas and various important editorial activities.

The manager for this branch, Pedro Tucat, has been working with FCE for more than 30 years.