The Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, a staunch free market advocate, has been one of the most notable critics of the ruling party in Mexico in the past.
After all, it was Vargas Llosa who in 1990 labeled the then-long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party as architect of the “perfect dictatorship.” It was a phrase that lingered for many years in reference to the PRI.
As I note in a story today elsewhere on this website, Vargas Llosa has had a change of opinion. These days, he finds the PRI more democratic and its reform policies “sensible.”
Vargas Llosa happens to be in Mexico City for a Peruvian cultural event, and will be heading to the Guadalajara International Book Fair soon.
Turns out that the PRI is back in power, and President Enrique Pena Nieto had time today to receive a visit from Vargas Llosa at Los Pinos, the presidential residence. No word on how the conversation went, but they look jovial in this handout photo from the president’s office.
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