Redeemers (66 page)

The essays by Gabriel Zaid on the guerrilla war in El Salvador and the need for elections in Nicaragua (which provoked fierce debates between Paz—and
Vuelta
—with the Mexican left in the 1980s) can be found in
De los libros al poder
(Grijalbo, 1988) while their sequel, Paz's speech at the Frankfurt Book Fair, “PRI: Hora cumplida,” which led to his being burned in effigy, can be found in
Vuelta,
November 1984,“El diálogo y el ruido.” My own article, “Por una democracia sin adjetivos,” which also provoked debate at the time, appeared in
Vuelta
in January 1984. A good deal of the debate took place between the magazines
Nexos
and
Vuelta
and was described in the newsmagazine
Proceso
.

There is no complete biography of Octavio Paz. Works of interest on his life include the prologue by Enrico Mario Santí to
Primeras letras
, and the same author's introductory study to
El laberinto de la soledad
(Cátedra, 1993); Froylán Enciso's
Andar fronteras
(Siglo XXI Editores, 2008), which focuses on his diplomatic career; and Elena Poniatowska's
Las palabras del árbol
(Joaquín Mortiz, 2009), which includes interesting interviews with Paz in the 1950s and '60s. But the book that comes closest to being a biography is the excellent work of Guillermo Sheridan,
Poeta con paisaje: ensayos sobre la vida de Octavio Paz
(Ediciones Era, 2004), especially useful and illuminating for the period 1929–43 and for Paz's time in Spain during the Civil War.

Various sources are especially relevant for different periods of Octavio Paz's long, varied, and productive life. For his childhood, I am indebted to conversations with his widow, Marie-José Paz, and articles by relatives (like Guillermo Haro) and the close friends of his early years (like Juan Soriano). The period of his young manhood (from his dropping out of law school to his time in Yucatán and Spain and his long stay in the United States and Europe) is described by Paz in
Itinerario
. I discussed this period with the sons of some of these early friends, especially David Huerta and Octavio Novaro Peñalosa. His time with Elena Garro is in her memoirs, which must be read with caution. My description of the Mexican intellectual milieu that followed the World War II is based on conversations with José Luis Martínez and articles he wrote at the time, such as “La literatura mexicana en 1942,” in
Literatura Mexicana
,
siglo XX
(Antigua Librería Robredo, 1949). Also useful was Elena Poniatowska's “Juan Soriano, niño de mil años,”
Plaza y Janés
, 1998. Paz's articles about Soriano, collected in
Los privilegios de la vista
; Paz's articles “Antevíspera:
Taller,
1938–1941” and “Poesía e historia (Laurel y nosotros),” both of which can be found in
Sombras de obras
(Seix Barral, 1983) as well as my own book:
Daniel Cosío Villegas: Una biografía intelectual
(Joaquín Mortiz, 1980) and my essay “Cuatro estaciones de la cultura mexicana,” in
Mexicanos eminentes
(Tusquets, 1999). Many other sources for various periods of his life are mentioned within the chapter.

I first met Octavio Paz on March 10, 1976, at the funeral of Daniel Cosío Villegas, who had been my teacher. I became deputy editor of the magazine
Vuelta
in 1976 and my connection with the magazine and Paz himself continued until his death in April 1998. Many of the events and much of the information that I present are from personal experiences I shared with Paz (as he shared his memories with me) across twenty-three years. I myself was present and heard the words to Marie-José that conclude the chapter.

 

E
VA
P
ERÓN

A previous version of this chapter appeared under the title of “The Blonde Leading the Blind” in
The New Republic
, February 10, 1997. The principal sources for the chapter were
Eva Perón: A Biography
, by Alicia Dujovne Ortiz, translated by Shawn Fields (St. Martin's, New York, 1996) and
Santa Evita
, by Tomás Eloy Martínez, translated by Helen Lane (Knopf, New York, 1996). Also of use was Michael Casey's
Che´s Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image
(Vintage, New York, 2009). For information and illumination on various aspects of Eva's historical period, I am grateful to the historian Enrique Zuleta Álvarez and to Dr. Vicente Massot.

 

C
HE
G
UEVARA

A partial, previous version of this chapter appeared under the title “The Return of Che Guevara” in
The New Republic
on February 9, 1998.

The selections from Che's writings come from his
Obras completas
, in three volumes (Legasa, Buenos Aires, 1995–96). Other publications consulted were his
Diarios de motocicleta: Notas de un viaje por América Latina
(Planeta, Buenos Aires, 2004);
Otra vez: Diario inédito del segundo viaje por Latinoamérica
(Ediciones B., Barcelona, 2001);
Pasajes de la guerra revolucionaria: Congo
(Mondadori, Mexico, 1999);
El socialismo y el hombre nuevo
(Siglo XXI Editores, Mexico, 1977). A number of his letters are available on the Internet:
Che: Guía y ejemplo: Epistolario
, at http://www.sancristobal.cult.cu/sitios/che/epistolario.htm.

I consulted the three major biographies of Che Guevara:
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
, by Jon Lee Anderson (Grove, New York, 1997);
Ernesto Guevara: también conocido como El Che,
by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, 9th ed. (Planeta–Joaquín Mortiz, Mexico, 1997); and
La vida en rojo. Una biografía del Che Guevara
, by Jorge Castañeda (Alfaguara, Mexico, 1997). Useful for a consideration of his ideas was
El pensamiento del Che Guevara
, by Michael Löwy (Siglo XXI, Mexico, 1997).

For Cuba's problems with the United States: “Rusia, Estados Unidos y América Latina,” by Daniel Cosío Villegas, in
Ensayos y notas
, volume 1 (Hermes, 1966); and “Estados Unidos falla en Cuba,” in
Ensayos y notas
, volume 2 (Hermes, 1966). For Che's youth in Córdoba and the family environment, I consulted with the historians Tulio Halperin Donghi and Carlos Sempat Assadourian, and drew some material from the useful script by Luis Altamira for the documentary
La infancia del Che
(Del taller de Mario Muchnik, Barcelona, 2003). For the books that interested him:
El último lector
, by Ricardo Piglia (Editorial Anagrama, Barcelona, 2005). On the ideological ferment in Córdoba:
Deodoro Roca, El hereje:
Selección y estudio preliminar, by Néstor Kohan (Editorial Biblos, Buenos Aires, 1999); and
“Manifiesto Liminar” de la Reforma Universitaria de 1918,
by Deodoro Roca (Editorial Universitaria de Córdoba, Córdoba, 1998).

Various articles by Hugo Pesce can be found in the archives of
Amauta
, Mariátegui's magazine. For Che's period in Mexico:
Retrato de Familia con Fidel
, by Carlos Franqui (Seix Barral, Barcelona, 1981). There is a discussion of Lázaro Cárdenas and the Cuban exiles in my book
Lázaro Cárdenas: El general misionero
(FCE, 1987). On Che in the Sierra Maestra, aside from the biographies and the work of Carlos Franqui mentioned above, I consulted Hugh Thomas's
Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom
(Da Capo, New York, 1998). For a highly critical account of Che's period at the head of La Cabaña prison see “Una fría máquina de matar,” by Álvaro Vargas Llosa, in
Letras Libres
, February 2007.

For Che's economic thinking, the following works were useful: “La creatividad en el pensamiento económico del Che,” by Carlos Tablada, in
Nueva Internacional,
no. 2, 1991, pp. 71–99, and by Michael Löwy:
El pensamiento del Che Guevara
(Siglo XXI, Mexico, 2007). Also the articles by Carmelo Mesa Lago, “La gestión económica del Che” and “Availability and Reliability of Statistics in Socialist Cuba (Part One)” in
Latin American Research Review,
no. 4, 1969; and “Ideological, Political and Economic Factors in the Cuban Controversy on Material Versus Moral Incentives,”
Journal of International Studies and World Affairs,
no. 14, 1972, and “Problemas estructurales, política económica y desarrollo en Cuba” (1959–70), in
Desarrollo Económico,
no. 13, 1973. Also Huber Matos,
Cómo llegó la noche
(Tusquets, Tiempo de Memoria 19 Barcelona, 2002); Héctor Rodríguez Llompart, “Che Comunista y Economista,” in
El Economista de Cuba
, December 2007;
La revolución cubana: 25 años después
(1984), by Hugh Thomas, G. Fauriol, and J. Weiss (Playor, Madrid) and “Soviet Economic Aid to Cuba: 1959–1964,” by Robert Walters, in
International Affairs,
no. 42, 1966. The conversations, presentations, and interviews of Valtr Komarek at the conference “Encuentro de Vuelta: la experiencia de la libertad,” organized by
Vuelta
in 1990, gave me the chance to document, from a firsthand source, Che's economic ideas and perspectives.

I drew information on Che as a guerrilla from Carlos Franqui's
Cuba
:
El libro de los doce
, by Carlos Franqui;
Memorias de un soldado cubano: Vida y muerte de la Revolución
, by “Benigno” (Daniel Alarcón Ramírez) (Tusquets, Barcelona, 1997);
El Furor y el delirio
, by Jorge Masetti (Tusquets Editores, Spain, 1999); and the two books by Régis Debray:
La guerrilla del Che
(Siglo XXI, Mexico, 2004) and his more disenchanted
Alabados sean nuestros señores
(Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 1999). On mercenaries in the Congo,
Congo Mercenary
, by their South African commander, Mike Hoare (Paladin, 1967). Simon Reid-Henry in
Fidel and Che: A Revolutionary Friendship
(Walker, New York, 2009) offers a penetrating description and analysis of the relations between Che and Fidel. “El ángel desalmado,” by Alma Guillermoprieto, in
Historia escrita
, translated by Laura Emilia Pacheco (Plaza y Janés, Mexico, 2001), discusses his youthful vision of a revolutionary future. On the guerrilla action of university students:
De los libros al poder
, by Gabriel Zaid (Grijalbo, Mexico, 1988). On Che's heritage:
Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image
, by Michael Casey (Vintage, New York, 2009). On his role as a martyr,
Mea Cuba
, by Guillermo Cabrera Infante (Editorial Vuelta, Mexico, 1993).

 

G
ABRIEL
G
ARCÍA
M
ÁRQUEZ

Most of this chapter appeared under the title “In the Shadow of the Patriarch,” in
The New Republic
, November 4, 2009.

My major sources were Gabriel García Márquez's autobiography:
Vivir para contarla
(Editorial Diana, Mexico, 2002) and the biography by Gerald Martin:
Gabriel García Márquez: A Life
(Knopf, New York, 2009). Also of importance for biographical information:
Un García Márquez desconocido
, by Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza (Emecé Editores–Editorial Planeta Colombiana, Bogotá, 2009);
El olor de la guayaba
by Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and Gabriel García Márquez (Mondadori, Barcelona, 1996),
García Márquez: Historia de un decidio
, by Mario Vargas Llosa (Barra, Caracas, 1971), and
El otro García Márquez: los años difíciles
, by Pedro Sorela (Mondadori, Madrid, 1988), of particular value for its discussion of the culture of the Caribbean as reflected in the work of García Márquez. Also of some interest is
García Márquez: Writer
of
Colombia
, by Stephen Minta (Harper & Row, New York, 1987) and
García Márquez for Beginners
, by Mariana Solanet (Writers and Readers, New York, 2001).

Among García Márquez's novels, the most relevant for this chapter were
La hojarasca
(Editorial Diana, Mexico, 1986);
El coronel no tiene quien le escriba
(Ediciones Era, Mexico, 1968);
Cien años de soledad
(Mondadori, Barcelona, 1987);
El otoño del patriarca
(Editorial Diana, Mexico, 1991); and
El general en su laberinto
(Editorial Diana, Mexico, 1994). I consulted the following collections of his articles and journalism:
Obra periodística 1: Textos costeños
(Grupo Editorial Norma, Santafé de Bogotá, 1997);
Obra periodística 2: Entre cachacos
(Grupo Editorial Norma, Santafé de Bogotá, 1997);
Obra periodística 3: De Europa y América
(Grupo Editorial Norma, Santafé de Bogotá, 1997);
Por la libre: Obra periodística 4 (1974–1995)
(Mondadori, Barcelona, 1999); and
Notas de prensa: 1980–1984
(Grupo Editorial Norma, Santafé de Bogotá, 1995).

For the history of Colombia:
Del poder y la gramática
, by Malcolm Deas (Tercer Mundo Editores, Bogotá, Caracas, and Quito, 1993);
País fragmentado
,
sociedad dividida: Su historia
, by Marco Palacios and Frank Safford (Grupo Editorial Norma, Bogotá, 2002). For Uribe y Uribe:
El liderazgo de Rafael Uribe: La modernización de la Nación y el Estado
, by Edgar Toro Sánchez (Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia, Bogotá, 2008). For the record of the United Fruit Company:
Close Encounters of Empire: Writing the Cultural History of U.S.-Latin American Relations
, by Gilbert M. Joseph, Catherine C. LeGrand, and Ricardo D. Salvatore (Duke University Press, Durham, N.C., 1998); and
The United Fruit Company in Latin America
, by Stacy May and Galo Plaza (National Planning Association, Washington, D.C., 1958).