WEEK 3: Marquez and Latin America

“We have had to ask but little of imagination, for our crucial problem has been a lack of conventional means to render our lives believable.”

- Gabriel García Márquez, 8 December 1982 Nobel Speech



Before the Cuban Revolution opened up the eyes of the world to the exploitation of Latin America, the region was probably one of the least discussed places on earth.  Yet the idea of dependency theory originated as a result of studies showing how western countries exploit many Central and South American developing countries for raw materials.  Everything from oil to coffee and bananas was up for grabs in an area that, according to nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, has never had a chance to properly define itself.

Thus, much of Latin America has been suffering a repetition of dependency, exploitation and disconnectedness which has made it difficult to judge what is fictional and what is really true.  García Márquez depicts this through his use of magical realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude, a book published in 1967 originally as Cien Anos de Soledad that took the world by storm due to its grotesque and repetitive depiction of a small fictional town in Colombia called Macondo.

An artist's depiction of the town of Macondo is depicted to the right.  We can see from this photo a specific perception of the town, perhaps viewed through a Western cultural lense.  It's vibrant, colorful atmosphere most likely reflects the success of the town due to the town's thriving banana plant, depicted in the novel as owned by foreign investors.  What this pictures doesn't show us, however, is the massacre that occured afterward and the subsequent four-year rain that eventually washed Macondo off of the face of the earth.

Indeed, the banana plant massacre was a historical fact, despite the unbelievable manner in which García Márquez depicts the action in One Hundred Years of Solitude.  His grandfather would constantly remind him of the massacre of workers by government troops at the United Fruit Company.

Colonel Aureliano Buendia most explicitly represents the constant struggle between liberal rebels and conservative government troops in Colombia, but I believe he resembles much more.  Aureliano became a symbol for the oppresed and exploited, a figurehead that so many could rally around.  In the end, Aureliano made and sold golden fish until his death, stuck in a self-induced solitude in which all hope was lost for a change in government.  Although respected by the current government, he refused the offer of a statue to be built in his name, wanting to disassociate himself completely with the government and with the war.  Colonel Aureliano Buendia is perhaps my favorite character of any book that I have ever read.  He personifies the struggle that exists to this day in many Latin American countries, but he is also human, and he is depicted as such.  One man cannot change the political scope of an entire region; I think that is an important theme to take from the tragedy of Aureliano.  I also believe García Márquez was speaking to Fidel Castro when he wrote Aureliano's downfall.

During his Nobel speech, the Colombian author described a contemporary Latin America that “neither wants, nor has any reason, to be a pawn without a will of its own.” (Márquez, 1982).  What García Márquez illustrated to the international community during his Nobel speech was a call for independence; a plea to western elites to ‘live and let live’ in regard to their influence, whether altruistic or capitalistic, in Latin America. 

Will this happen?  Many say it is happening now.  Here are pictures of just a few leaders who have pledged alternative development models in their countries, each in their own way (some more controversial than others), which seek to reduce dependence on the United States:

Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador

Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela

Evo Morales, President of Bolivia