Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012) was born in Panama City, Panama and died in Mexico City.
The Death of Artemis Cruz
Fuentes’ best-known work is “The Death of Artemis Cruz” (La muerte de Artemis Cruz, 1962).
This seminal work of Spanish-language literature was influenced by the seminal work of modern filmmaking Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” (1941). In both works, the title character is a newspaper magnate on his deathbed who recalls the key moments in his life.
Artemis Cruz was a poor soldier of the Mexican Revolution who became rich and powerful through the very violence, corruption, and exploitation which the Mexican Revolution was supposed to be against.
The battle between the people of the big house and the people of the land has been the essential human struggle since at least the French Revolution. This struggle continues to play itself out today in Mexico, across Latin America, now the Middle East, and once again here in the United States.
Social unrest comes when the gap between rich and poor gets too big. Company CEOs are gazillionaires, while their workforce has to work two or three jobs just to survive. A NASA study (why NASA?) found that civilizations collapse from inequality and environmental degradation. Both of those problems are hot now.
Carlos Fuentes Was a Diplomat’s Son
Fuentes was born in Panama City, Panama on November 11, 1928. He was the son of a Mexican diplomat.