“Like all of Latin America, Mexico after independence in 1821 turned its back on a triple heritage: on the Spanish heritage, because we were newly liberated colonies, and on our Indian and black heritages, because we considered them backward and barbaric. We looked towards France, England and the U.S., to become progressive democratic republics.” AmericaBlackEnglandIndependenceDemocraticFranceIndianLatinProgressiveRepublicHeritageMexicoLiberatedLatin AmericaColonyBarbaricDemocratic Republic Author:Carlos Fuentes
“Things have changed in Latin America now. We mostly have democratic governments in Latin America, so the position of the writer has changed. It is not as Neruda used to say, that a Latin American writer walks around with the body of his people on his back. Now, we have citizens, we have public means of expression, political parties, congress, unions. So, the writer's position has changed, we now consider ourselves to be citizens - not spokespeople for everybody - but citizens that participate in the political and social process of the country.” PeopleMeanCountryPoliticalPartyChangedDemocraticLatinPolitical PartiesLatin AmericaThings Have ChangedAmerican Writer Author:Carlos Fuentes
“Most writers in Mexico have had posts as ambassadors, secretaries - that is no longer the case. Now a writer can live off writing. He has an audience: there are publishing houses, there are newspapers - so the situation is not as terrible as it used to be when there were no means and he had to go into government service, be an ambassador or a cabinet minister, etc. So, things are changing in the sense that the civil society is now the protagonist. The writer therefore occupies a different position, but no less influential than in the past, in a new, democratic society.” WritingMeanDifferentPastHouseSituationAudienceTerribleDemocraticPublishingSecretaryInfluentialCivil Society Author:Carlos Fuentes
“Now the masses of Latin America are electing governments they feel can take forward the democratic reforms of the last 20 years, and transform them into social and economic reforms. This is, I think, extremely important, because it also means that the left has abandoned the revolutionary solution proposed by Che Guevara and has taken the democratic path.” ThinkingMeanImportantPathTakenEconomicSolutionsDemocraticRevolutionaryLatinAbandonedLatin America Author:Carlos Fuentes
