Daily Headlines: June 21, 2010

* Cuba: Slow progress has reportedly been made in migration talks between the U.S. and Cuba in part due to the imprisonment of a U.S. contractor in Havana.

* Peru: A U.S. judge blocked rewarding a Venezuelan man over $10 million based on his role in bringing down the controversial former head of Peruvian intelligence Vladimiro Montesinos.

* Latin America: According to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute arms spending in Latin American continued in 2009 with Brazil and Colombia leading the way.

* Mexico: Intellectuals, ordinary Mexicans, and (ironically) politicians have all paid tribute to author Carlos Monsiváis who died on Saturday.

Image – LAHT
Online Sources- Reuters, San Francisco Examiner, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, UPI

Arte para la gente: Adios Carlos

Sad news from the world of literature where one of Mexico’s most famous contemporary authors died.

Carlos Monsiváis passed away at the age of 72 due to respiratory problems. The author and journalist had been hospitalized for approximately two months until he died this afternoon.

Monsiváis was a prolific writer whose works examined areas such as Mexican social life and mocked those in power. His 1970 book "Los procesos de México'' (“The processes of Mexico”), for example, took a harsh look at the judicial process against the students arrested after the infamous 1968 massacre at Tlatelolco. Monsiváis had also become such a well-known media figure through his articles and TV appearances that poet José Emilio Pacheco called him the only writer Mexicans could “recognize on the street.”

Numerous literary figures have lamented the death of Monsiváis such as fellow author Carlos Fuentes:

“We have not lost Carlos Monsiváis. A writer does not die because he left his craft. We didn’t lose Monsiváis; we have won Monsiváis forever.”

To understand what Fuentes means and appreciate the impact of Monsiváis on Mexican culture take a look at this biographical documentary:

Online Sources- YouTube, Univision.com, La Opinion, Clarin, AFP, El Universal