Álvaro Vargas Llosa
Encyclopedia
Álvaro Vargas Llosa is a Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

vian writer and political commentator on international affairs with emphasis on Latin America. He is also the writer and presenter of a documentary series for National Geographic on contemporary Latin American history that is being shown around the world.

Vargas Llosa is the son of writer and Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...

 and the brother of UNHCR representative Gonzalo Vargas Llosa and photographer Morgana Vargas Llosa. He is married, has a son and a daughter, and lives in Washington, D.C. He holds dual Peruvian and Spanish nationality. As his father's eldest child, he is the heir apparent to the Marquessate of Vargas Llosa.

Álvaro Vargas Llosa is a Senior Fellow of The Center on Global Prosperity at the Independent Institute, a nationally syndicated columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group, and the author of the book Liberty for Latin America, which obtained the Sir Anthony Fisher International Memorial Award for its contribution to the cause of freedom in 2005. He was recently appointed Young Global Leader 2007 by the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Life

Vargas Llosa was born in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

 in 1966 and received his B.Sc. in international history from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

. He has been a member of Board of the Miami Herald Publishing Company and op-ed page editor and columnist at the Miami Herald, and a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the BBC World Service, Time Magazine, Granta magazine, El País, the International Herald Tribune, Investor's Business Daily and other media outlets. In addition, Mr. Vargas Llosa has been a commentator at Univision TV, news director at RCN radio, London Correspondent for Spain’s ABC daily newspaper, commentator at Radio Nacional de España in Madrid, host of the weekly TV program Planeta 3 that aired in twelve Latin American countries for five years, and columnist at La Nación (Argentina), El Nacional (Venezuela), Reforma (Mexico), El Tiempo (Colombia), El País (Uruguay), El Listín Diario (Dominican Republic).

He is the author of the books The Che Guevara Myth, Liberty for Latin America, The Madness of Things Peruvian, Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot (which he co-authored with Carlos Alberto Montaner
Carlos Alberto Montaner
Carlos Alberto Montaner is an exiled Cuban author and journalist known for his more than 25 books and thousand of articles, including several novels, the last of which is La mujer del coronel, The colonel's wife. Some of his books are devoted to explain the true nature of the Cuban dictatorship,...

 and Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza), El Exilio Indomable, Cuando Hablaba Dormido, El Diablo en Campaña, En el Reino del Espanto, Tiempos de Resistencia, and La Contenta Barbarie, and a contributor to How I Learned English (editor Tom Miller).

Mr. Vargas Llosa was the press spokesman for the presidential campaign of the Democratic Front in 1990 in his native Peru and an Advisor on International Relations for the presidential campaign of Perú Possible in 2001.

He is the recipient of the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for his book Liberty for Latin America (2006), the Juan Bautista Alberdi Award (2006) for his defense of freedom across the western hemisphere, the A.I.R. Award for Best Current Affairs Radio Show in Florida (1998), the Puerto Rican Parliament’s Award for the Defense of Freedom (1997), the Peruvian Association of Fishermen’s Award for the Defense of Freedom (2000), and The Freedom of Expression Award given by the Association of Ibero-American Journalists (2003).

He is currently the director of the Center on Global Prosperity at the Independent Institute
Independent Institute
The Independent Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 byDavid J. Theroux , the Institute sponsors studies of major political, social, economic, legal, environmental and foreign policy issues. It has more than 140 research fellows. The Institute was...

, and his articles are syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group in both English and Spanish throughout the U.S. Latin America, Europe, and Asia. He is a proponent of free-market economics and democracy under the rule of law, calling for more open trade between Latin America and the United States. He has been critical of the legacies of Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

 and Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...

 in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, and more recently, the policies of the Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...

 government in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 and the Evo Morales
Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...

 government in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

. He is a member of the International Council of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation
Human Rights Foundation
The Human Rights Foundation is a non-profit organization whose stated mission "is to ensure that freedom is both preserved and promoted" in the Americas. The Human Rights Foundation was founded in 2005 by Thor Halvorssen...

.

He has lectured widely on world economic and political issues. Among other venues, he has spoken at The World Economic Forum, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Council on Foreign Affairs (U.S.), The World Affairs Council (U.S.), The Inter-American Dialogue (U.S.), Florida International University (U.S.), University of New York (U.S.), The Cato Institute (U.S.), The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (U.S.), The Mount Pelerin Society (Chile), The Naumann Foundation (Germany), the FAES Foundation (Spain), the Brazilian Institute of Business Studies, the Fundación Libertad (Argentina), the CEDICE Foundation (Venezuela), the Ecuatorian Chamber of Commerce (Ecuador), and University of San Marcos (Peru).

In English

  • The Che Guevara Myth and the Future of Liberty (2005) ISBN 1-59813-005-6
  • Liberty for Latin America: How to undo 500 years of state oppression (2005) ISBN 0-374-18574-3
  • Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot, with Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and Carlos Alberto Montaner (1999) ISBN 1-56833-134-7
  • Riding the tiger: Ramiro de León Carpio's battle for human rights in Guatemala with Santiago Aroca. (1995) ISBN 0-9648426-0-2
  • The Madness of Things Peruvian: Democracy Under Siege (1994) ISBN 1-56000-114-3

In Spanish

  • (2004) ISBN 956-8207-07-4
  • (2003) ISBN 84-03-09342-X
  • (2000) ISBN 970-05-1197-9
  • (2000) ISBN 9972-40-147-2
  • (1999) ISBN 970-05-1125-1
  • (1998) ISBN 84-239-7763-3
  • (1993) ISBN 84-08-01021-2
  • (1991) ISBN 84-03-59113-6
  • , with Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and Carlos Alberto Montaner (2007) ISBN 03-073-9151-5

External links

  • Liberty for Latin America (video)
  • Independent Institute biography page
  • No Left Turn - An op-ed
    Op-ed
    An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...

     by Vargas Llosa on the December 2005 election of President
    President
    A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

     Evo Morales
    Evo Morales
    Juan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...

     in Bolivia
    Bolivia
    Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

    .
  • The Killing Machine: Che Guevara, from Communist Firebrand to Capitalist Brand
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