Acceso usuarios
Alejandro Enríquez
This essay traces the development and evolution of Carlos Fuentes’ thinking on neoliberalism and globalization over four decades both fiction and non-fiction and written in both English and Spanish in English and Spanish. In the end, it will show how his views on globalization shifted and evolved to accommodate new and ever-changing circumstances. Once a staunch supporter of the Cuba revolution, Carlos Fuentes was later in life temporarily seduced by the promises of a new neoliberal social order best exemplified by his writing in support of the signing of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. By the end of his life, Fuentes changed his mind again, recognizing the danger to humanity and the environment brought by unfettered markets. This analytical survey begins (roughly) in the 1980s and ends with the new millennium in the 2000s and it encompasses fiction (novels and stories) and non-fiction (editorials, essays, speeches), originally written both in English and in Spanish. Broadly speaking, the critical intellectual is more aligned with the fiction writer while the state intellectual is more aligned with the non-fiction one. A closer look, however, reveals particularities and nuances.
