The Lafayette community is invited to a presentation by Professor Angel Esteban of the University of Granada, Spain, on Nov. 24, at 1 p.m. in 101 Hamilton Hall on the UL Lafayette campus.
The presentation, entitled “Gabo and Fidel: The Power of Love, or the Love of Power?” addresses what Esteban calls the ‘dangerous liaison’ between Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Nobel Prize winning Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, author of the best selling novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Esteban explains, “Gabo (García Márquez), who had always turned down the requests of political parties and leaders in Colombia to serve in government or run for president, put on his campaign hat to become a politician for Fidel Castro, on his own terms. He achieved this by moving in the most elite circles of political power, directing it and controlling its flow, making decisions without pounding his fist on the table, issuing mandates without a sceptre in hand, using his fame in his rounds of glittering social obligations, ferrying proposals from one country to another, functioning as the bearded Commander exclusive ambassador-at-large to the world.”
Esteban, co-author of Gabo y Fidel: Paisajes de una Amistad (Madrid, 2004) is Associate Professor of Spanish American Literature at the University of Granada, one of the most prestigious institutions in Europe. His book has been a best seller in Spain and Latin American countries, defying taboos and uncovering secrets around both figures.
This presentation is sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages, the Minor in Latin American Studies, the Honors Program, and the Student Government Association of UL Lafayette. It is funded by the Lyceum Committee of the SGA.
Parking is available in the Student Union lot on McKinley Street, and the Earl K. Long lot at St. Mary Boulevard and Girard Park Drive.
For further information, contact Leslie Bary or Francisco García-Rubio in Spanish, 482-6811, or Julia Frederick in Honors and Latin American Studies, 482-6700.
Information on lectures and events in Spanish and Latin American Studies at UL Lafayette is available on the web at http://las.louisiana.edu/sala/.