“The uncertainty of who we are”

Luis Sepulveda / Daniel Mordzinski

In his latest book, Chilean author Luis Sepulveda stages three old men who try to revive their revolutionary past with an ultimate blow. I had the opportunity to interview him and I must confess it was a great moment for me.

The entire interview is here in French. You can also find a shorter version in Spanish here. And just for the readers of my blog, two bonus questions about Latin America nowadays…

In several places in the world, people try to define a national identity, Latin America has not escaped from the wave. In a recent book Jorge Volpi intents answering the question of Latin American identity nowadays. Do you think there is a Latin American identity?
I think it is impossible to define a Latin American identity. Actually it has changed. In the 60’s and 70’s our identity was defined as a white one, just with Spanish, English, French or German names. Nothing was Indian even if we were “proud” of our Indian roots. Things have changed but even today if you ask an Argentinean where are the Indian Argentineans, they will answer “there is no Indian here”, even if 70% of the Argentineans have Indian origins. The same with Chile where the Mapuche are about 10% of the population. If something defines Latin America, I think it is more the uncertainty of who we are. The question of identity is a slow task, especially because each identity destroys the others. I remember that a few years ago, people from the Basque organization ETA arrived illegally in Uruguay. There was no other place to go for them. They were forced to agree, all of them were Basque. But one of them told another one: “I’m sorry, I can’t work with you. Because you are from a village enemy of mine!”

Do you think there is a strong Left wing movement in Latin America or is it just an appearance and each country has its own way?
I think there is not one Left wing in Latin America. Every place is different. Brazil, Chile or Uruguay have nothing to do with Venezuela, for example. Chavez is not a Left wing leader, he is just a populist. Morales has his own rules in Bolivia. In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega is just a shame and I do not see what is Leftist in him. Especially when you look at his vice president, who was a member of the Contra in the 1980s. And his first measure was to adopt a law against abortion.