The Visit of a Nobel Prize Winner
The winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature should not be taken as a subversive act in any country, but how about in Venezuela?
Mario Vargas LLosa is not a newcomer to Venezuela. He received his first important literary award, the Romulo Gallegos Prize in Venezuela in 1967, for his novel “The Green House” earning him a prize of $100,000 dollars. Vargas Llosa became the symbol of the Latin American boom in literature, at only thirty years of age.
The last time the writer was in Caracas was in 2009, when he accepted a challenge from President Hugo Chavez to debate on the virtues and disadvantages of capitalism and socialism.,
The duel was set with a fixed time and date, but then Chavez backed out, saying, “in order for Vargas Llosa to have a debate with me, he would have to be president of Peru first”.
Five years after that cutting remark and with Chavez now dead, Vargas Llosa meets a country and a society in the midst of a huge transformation. The writer comes to attend the 30th anniversary celebration of the Cedice, a reputable center that promotes liberalism in Venezuela, the political opportunity has given the writer’s visit a very special aura.
Chavez’s successor, Nicola Maduro is stumbling in the face of a huge economic crisis, that in reality has been brewing for years. He taggers to find his balance after more than two months of protests that have forced him to sit down with the representatives from the opposition group, Mesa de la Unidad Democratica (MUD) or the Democratic Unity Roundtable. The opposition, including even its most rebellious sector has received the Nobel laureate as a moral weight who comes to bring new shine and visibility to the fight.
Being a public and very famous figure known worldwide, the state media and private sector radio have had a hard time skipping over, or avoiding the mention of the Nobel Prize winner. Still the main government television station, Venezolana de television figured out a way not to have to mention the presence of Vargas Llosa in Venezuela.
The website for the television station published a statement signed by “revolutionary citizen journalists” denouncing the visit, calling Vargas Llosa “the biggest rabble rouser”.
In the past the Chavista regime expelled speakers whom they considered to be impertinent, no matter how famous the person was, if they made statements that the Venezuelan government found irritating.
Vargas LLosa did make a public statement saying that he hoped the talk between the government and the opposition would lead to the liberation of political prisoners, whose very existence the regime denies.
Vargas Llosa chastised the Venezuelan people for making the mistake of choosing Chavez and a project that he thinks “emulate Cuba and North Korea. Vargas LLosa said in his statement that “Venezuela is going through a radical anachronistic crisis.”
