Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize Author, Tells CNN Mexico Has
Shifted From Dictatorship To Democracy Since 1990
http://www.latintimes.com/mario-vargas-llosa-nobel-prize-author-tells-cnn-mexico-has-shifted-dictatorship-democracy-1990
Mario Vargas Llosa, whose 1990 barb characterizing the
Mexican political system as a “perfect dictatorship” has remained lodged in the
psyche of the country’s political class, thinks that Mexico has put itself in the right
direction. In an interview with CNN, the
Peruvian novelist and one-time presidential hopeful said he believed the
country had made considerable progress in the 23 years which had elapsed since
his comments. “Today Mexico is a
democracy, and for 70 years it wasn’t,” he said. “It was a country practically governed by a
single party, although there were certain appearances of democracy. Today there’s not appearances – it’s a reality.”
The author of novels like “La ciudad y los perros” (“The
Time of the Hero”), “La casa verde” (“The Green House”) and “La fiesta de los
chivos” (“The Feast of the Goats”) had come to Mexico in 1990 on the invitation
of fellow author Octavio Paz, and referred to the ruling Party of the
Institutional Revolution (PRI) in his “perfect dictatorship” comments. That same party is back in power after a
12-year absence. But in the interim, as
Vargas Llosa would have it, the country’s political life has begun a process of
transformation.
“Mexico
is a free society,” he continued, “where there’s free political contests, free
elections, a right to criticism exercised by the press which is very visible
there. It might be a very imperfect
democracy, as are all democracies across the world, but I also think that it’s
a country which is headed in the right direction in spite of the problems. I think the same goes for many countries in Latin America – unfortunately not all of them, but it
seems to me that for many of them that is happening.”
That optimism is reflected in his new novel, “El héroe
discrete” (“The Discreto Hero”), published in Spanish in September. Vargas Llosa calls it “much less pessimistic
than my other novels where it describes Peru; in a certain way it’s even
optimistic, because it shows a society which has a lot of problems, but also a
society in progress.”
Mario Vargas Llosa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Vargas_Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa;
born March 28, 1936 is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist,
essayist, college professor, and recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in
Literature. Born in Peru, Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most
significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading writers of his
generation. Some critics consider him to have had a larger international impact
and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin American Boom.
PHOTOS
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LATIN TIMES
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