Álvaro Vargas Llosa
Álvaro Vargas Llosa (born 18 March 1966) is a Peruvian-Spanish 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 Channel on contemporary Latin American history that is being shown around the world.
Vargas Llosa is the eldest son of writer and Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa (and his father’s heir apparent to the Marquisate of Vargas Llosa) and his wife Patricia Llosa. He is 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 both Peruvian and Spanish nationalities.
Álvaro Vargas Llosa is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute, who has been a nationally syndicated columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group, and is the author of the book Liberty for Latin America, which obtained the 2005 Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for its contribution to the cause of freedom. He was recently appointed Young Global Leader 2007 by the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Life
Vargas Llosa was born in Lima in 1966 and received his B.Sc. in international history from the London School of Economics. He has been a member of board of the Miami Herald Publishing Company as well as op-ed page editor and columnist, and a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the BBC World Service, Time, Granta, 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 (Caracas), 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 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.
Among his books, Liberty for Latin America (2006) received the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award and Lessons from the Poor: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit (2008) received the Templeton Freedom Award. He is also the recipient of 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 has been the director of the Center on Global Prosperity at the Independent Institute, and his articles have been 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 and Che Guevara in Cuba and Bolivia, and more recently, the policies of the Hugo Chávez government in Venezuela and the Evo Morales government in Bolivia. He is a member of the International Council of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation.
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 Relations (U.S.), the World Affairs Councils of America (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 Mont Pelerin Society, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Germany), the Bruno Leoni Institute (Italy), the FAES (Foundation for Analysis and Social Studies)(Spain), the Brazilian Institute of Business Studies, the Fundación Libertad (Argentina), the CEDICE Foundation (Venezuela), the Ecuatorian Chamber of Commerce (Ecuador), and the National University of San Marcos (Peru).
Books
In English
- Global Crossings: Immigration, Civilization, and America (2013) ISBN 1-59813-133-8
- 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
- El Regreso del Idiota, with Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and Carlos Alberto Montaner (2007) ISBN 0-307-39151-5
- La fauna política latinoamericana : neopopulistas reyes pasmados e insoportables (2004) ISBN 956-8207-07-4
- La Mestiza de Pizarro: una mestiza entre dos mundos (2003) ISBN 84-03-09342-X
- En el Reino del Espanto (2000) ISBN 970-05-1197-9
- Tiempos de Resistencia (2000) ISBN 9972-40-147-2
- Cuando Hablaba Dormido (1999) ISBN 970-05-1125-1
- El Exilio Indomable: historia de la disidencia cubana en el destierro (1998) ISBN 84-239-7763-3
- La Contenta Barbarie (1993) ISBN 84-08-01021-2
- El Diablo en Campaña (1991) ISBN 84-03-59113-6
External links
- personal website
- Liberty for Latin America (video)
- Independent Institute biography page
- No Left Turn - An op-ed by Vargas Llosa on the December 2005 election of President Evo Morales in Bolivia.
- The Killing Machine: Che Guevara, from Communist Firebrand to Capitalist Brand