Del Paso denounces the situation of Mexico to collect the Cervantes Prize

USPA NEWS - Mexican writer Fernando del Paso gathered Saturday at the auditorium of the University of Alcala de Henares, in Madrid, the Cervantes Prize for Literature, the most important award in Spanish language. In his speech, he denounced the political and social situation in Mexico.

Fernando del Paso is the sixth Mexican writer received the Cervantes Prize, which was given by King Philip IV of Spain in the auditorium of the University of Alcala de Henares, in Madrid, where the author of 'Don Quixote' lived, whose death on April 23, 1616, marks 400 years. In his speech, Fernando del Paso took the opportunity to denounce the political and social situation in Mexico. "Things have not changed in Mexico but for the worse: continue robberies, extortions, kidnappings, disappearances, feminicide, discrimination, impunity and cynicism," said the writer, who received the award "for his contribution to the development of the novel, combining tradition and modernity, as Cervantes did at the time."

"His novels, full of risks, recreate key episodes in the history of Mexico, making them universal," the jury said. Author of the novels 'José Trigo' (1966), 'Palinuro of Mexico' (1977) and 'News of the Empire' (1987), among a vast literary output includes novels, poetry, essays and journalism, Fernando del Paso was born in Mexico city on April 1, 1935, and also a writer, was a diplomat for a short period, representing his country in the French capital as consul general in Paris between 1989 and 1992. It is as Cervantes Prize five other Mexican writers have won the award since its inception in 1976. They are Octavio Paz (1981), Carlos Fuentes (1987), Sergio Pitol (2005), Jose Emilio Pacheco (2009) and Elena Poniatowska (2013).

In the 41 editions of Cervantes Prize, Spain is the country that has contributed most awarded writers (21), followed by Mexico (6), Argentina (4), Chile (3), Cuba (3), Colombia (1), Paraguay (1), Peru (1) and Uruguay (1). "Criticizing my country in a foreign country I am ashamed," Fernando del Paso said in his speech accepting the prize, worth 125,000 euros and is considered the most important in Spanish language. Nevertheless, the writer was faithful to its commitment to Mexican society and endowed his speech with political content in which no lack of denunciation and criticism of the Government of their country. For his part, King Philip VI of Spain highlighted the ability of crossbreeding of Spanish.