|
|
|
|
Search: 
Latin American Herald Tribune
Venezuela Overview
Venezuelan Embassies & Consulates Around The World
Sites/Blogs about Venezuela
Venezuelan Newspapers
Facts about Venezuela
Venezuela Tourism
Embassies in Caracas

Colombia Overview
Colombian Embassies & Consulates Around the World
Government Links
Embassies in Bogota
Media
Sites/Blogs about Colombia
Educational Institutions

Stocks

Commodities
Crude Oil
US Gasoline Prices
Natural Gas
Gold
Silver
Copper

Euro
UK Pound
Australia Dollar
Canada Dollar
Brazil Real
Mexico Peso
India Rupee

Antigua & Barbuda
Aruba
Barbados
Cayman Islands
Cuba
Curacao
Dominica

Grenada
Haiti
Jamaica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Belize
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama

Bahamas
Bermuda
Mexico

Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Guyana
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay

What's New at LAHT?
Follow Us On Facebook
Follow Us On Twitter
Most Viewed on the Web
Popular on Twitter
Receive Our Daily Headlines


  HOME | Arts & Entertainment

Joel Hirst's "The Lieutenant of San Porfirio": Hugo Chavez's Venezuela in Roman a Clef
The Latin American Herald Tribune sits down with Joel Hirst, a former Council on Foreign Relations Fellow who worked for US AID for 7 years in Venezuela, to discuss his new novel, “The Lieutenant of San Porfirio”

By Latin American Herald Tribune staff


Latin American Herald Tribune: “The Lieutenant of San Porfirio” -- What’s the novel about?

Joel Hirst: In Latin America there’s a genre called the dictator novel. It’s a genre that tries to capture the absurd but also malevolent nature of dictatorship that has been so much a part of the region’s political culture. Using magical realism to depict the transcendental and deep power struggles, the books are also a method for a powerless people to protest against the perpetual impunity of the dictatorships. I wrote this novel about the new dictatorships -- socialist dictatorships in Latin America. While it is based in Venezuela because that country has been emblematic in the last decade, it draws on realities from across Latin America.


LAHT: What was your purpose in writing the novel?
JH: I have lived for over twenty years in Latin America; and have struggled with the contrasts and made common cause with many of the struggles. I also lived in Venezuela for seven years and witnessed what socialist authoritarianism has done to that country. So I wrote this novel in part as catharsis, part in protest at the evils that I saw; but I also wrote it to a North American audience to try and express what life is like in a place very foreign to most people in the USA.

LAHT: What is the story line?
JH: It’s a story about four characters who interact over a period of a week at a youth forum organized by the socialist government. The characters are archetypal and rational. Each is keen to protect their perceived interests – and this act brings them all in conflict in many unexpected ways. I won’t give away the ending but suffice it to say there are a few plot twists as the story develops.


LAHT: Why pick the vehicle of a novel?
Policy discussions are often stale and opinion articles too often reach a limited audience. Also, these do not convey the rich nuances of the challenges of many countries in our hemisphere to find lasting freedom. I wrote this because I feel that in entertaining we educate; and that’s what I wanted to do with this book.


LAHT: What authors inspire you?
JH: In preparing to write this, I read lots of Latin American modern classics. Of course this means Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende. I love the epical feel of the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien. I find the stories about the human condition by W. Somerset Maugham very inspiring and I love the clarity of thought of Ayn Rand. I'd like to think that if you mix them all together, you will find “The Lieutenant of San Porfirio”.


 

Enter your email address to subscribe to free headlines (and great cartoons so every email has a happy ending!) from the Latin American Herald Tribune:

 

Copyright Latin American Herald Tribune - 2005-2021 © All rights reserved