Brasília, 29 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In a nationwide radio and TV broadcast, president Fernando Henrique Cardoso commemorated yesterday (28) the distribution of 60 million books to 4th and 5th grade students in public schools. According to Cardoso, "people who read are bridges, roads and highways to the future."

Cardoso pointed out that Brazil is close to eliminating illiteracy and must now work to close the so-called "digital gap." "The challenge is to remove the barrier between those who have access to books and those who do not. Our permanent struggle is against inequality and injustice in Brazil. The XXI century is the century of knowledge and information," said Cardoso. (AB)