Mario Vargas Llosa

On its opinion pages the WSJ celebrates Nobel Prize winner in literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, in two articles this morning. The editorial begins, “Winners…are typically distinguished by their literary obscurity, suffocating prose and left wing politics. But every decade or so the prize-givers get it right: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in 1970, Czeslaw Milosz in 1980, Octavio Paz on 1990, V.S. Naipaul in 2001. Right on schedule, this year’s prize went to Peru’s Mario Vargas Llosa.”

In 2007, WSJ’s Emily Parker interviewed Mr. Llosa in Lima, Peru. She writes today, “Mr. Vargas Llosa’s Nobel Prize is a great victory - and not just for the talented and prolific author. His work is perhaps the greatest rebuttal to those who believe literature exists on the periphery of history and politics, or who claim that they have ‘no time’ for fiction.”

She goes on, “Mr. Vargas Llosa’s novels reflect his deep personal hatred of dictatorships and his staunch belief in the value of individual liberty… he describes how dictatorships impregnate ‘every act of life’…(and how) ‘the woman is almost always the first victim of a dictator…’ (Llosa) gained notoriety for his emphasis on a market economy, free trade and private property (rights). He was no less controversial for his support of the invasion of Iraq, which he saw as necessary to ending the ‘monstrous dictatorship’ of Saddam Hussein.”

Book chains such as Borders may face a moral dilemma as their stock of unsold liberal tomes continue to clog their groaning display shelves; especially now, in light of the Nobel Prize committee’s remarkable hat tip to Llosa’s international triumph.

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Foreshadowing

In literature the term foreshadowing is used to predict future action. In history, politics can be used to foreshadow a turn of events. Foreshadowing is usually a depiction of small occurrences, or a myriad of small occurrences that essentially mirror what can be expected happen on a much grander scale later on.

Mexico has already crossed over into a cycle of revenge-driven violence. There are essentially two sides: the weak and divided government, and the ruthless drug cartels. The drug cartels appear to be winning. I recently saw the Mexican film 'Sin Nombre' ('09). It shows the utter disrespect for any sense of decency that the gangs and cartels exhibit. It is not much of a stretch to assume that gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha 13 are operating in league with known geo-political players. Many Mexicans who come to the U.S. do so in order to flee the dangers that lawlessness and political chaos breed.

The evil that is driving them to seek safer havens in the U.S., however, pursues them across the border. In America, we too stand divided. Nobody is yet certain which half of the divide will prevail. At this point both sides can and do claim supremacy as the standard to measure such things has not yet been determined. But already political corpses are piled everywhere. There is fear of political reprisal. There is silence when high crimes are openly committed.

As the worm turns, bullets and blood will take the place of words and cowardice. This is because no less than the fate of a nation is at stake. Two separate ideologies compete for its soul. Before the jackals can feast, the animal must be brought down. Nature plays no favorites. She gives her nod to the jackals by offering them the weakest of the herd. The jackals never know the difference.