Presentation of the Grand Collar of the Order of the Sun to the writer Mario Vargas Llosa by Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, at the government palace, in Lima, Peru, March 8, 2023. STRINGER / AFP
The Peruvian Nobel Prize for Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, has blasted Latin American governments who question the legitimacy of President Dina Boluarte, after demonstrations that left around 50 people dead.
“As is known, some governments in the region, driven by ideologies or political interests, have intervened inappropriately in the affairs of Peru, questioning the legitimacy of its government.“, declared Mario Vargas Llosa on Wednesday evening March 8, after receiving the highest honor in the country from the hands of the President in Lima.
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“We strongly reject their interference”
“These leaders must be reminded that in Peru, where democracy prevails, (…) we firmly reject their interference, which violates international standards and the most basic principles of good neighborliness“, he added in a tacit allusion to the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro. The latter strongly criticized Dina Boluarte, whose democratic legitimacy they question following the dismissal by Congress of leftist President Pedro Castillo on December 7, 2022.
His ousting and the coming to power of Dina Boluarte, who was the vice-president, sparked a wave of protests that left at least 54 people dead, including six soldiers who drowned trying to flee hundreds of protesters who were attacking. Supporters of the former president demand the resignation of the government and early elections.
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Vargas Llosa, 86, who appeared tired, was elevated to the rank of Grand Collar of the Order of the Sun, “the highest distinction granted by the republic, as a symbol of recognition and gratitude from Peru“, said Dina Boluarte. She had congratulated him almost a month ago, after his entry into the French Academy on February 9, which made him the first non-French language author to access this institution founded in 1635.
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