That a human being would waste his prodigious talent in the service of a monstrous dictator after having witnessed such event speaks of a blindness, a void of the soul.

But then, Fidel had gifted García Márquez a fully-furnished mansion in Havana’s best neighborhood (link in Spanish), and a Mercedes, complete with staff, after the 1982 Nobel award was announced.

Read my full post at Da Tech Guy’s blog to find out what event I’m referring to.

While on the subject,

In addition to being Fidel’s pal, Gabo also gave us “Lateeen-ohs” a reputation for being nonsensical and less than rational. His so-called “magical realism” pegged us all as totally out of touch with reality, and tagged us as noble savages — endearing, perhaps, but also annoyingly savage and inferior to rational North Americans and Europeans.

García Márquez also reduced us Puerto Ricans to cultural stereotypes, No se les hable de lógica, pues eso implica razonamiento y mesura y los puertorriqueños son hiperbólicos y exagerados. “Don’t speak to them of logic, since that implies reasoning and restraint, and Puerto Ricans are hyperbolic and exaggerated.”

Charming, wasn’t he?

[Note:I am told that the essay on Puerto Ricans was not written by García Márquez. If anyone has the name of the original author, please leave a link in the comments section.]

Check out Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Good Friday meditation on original sin

UPDATE:
In a fellational tribute to Fidel Castro, García Márquez sounds like he wrote copy for Dos Equis in his spare time,

His devotion is to the word. His power is of seduction. He goes to seek out problems where they are. The impetus of inspiration is very much part of his style. Books reflect the breadth of his tastes very well. He stopped smoking to have the moral authority to combat tobacco addiction. He likes to prepare food recipes with a kind of scientific fervour. He keeps himself in excellent physical condition with various hours of gymnastics daily and frequent swimming. Invincible patience. Ironclad discipline. The force of his imagination stretches him to the unforeseen.

And he’s been known to cure insomnia by just walking into a room, yeah.