Elena Poniatowska, one of Mexico’s most revered writers, came to Guadalajara on Sunday to support leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the presidential debate.
Poniatowska may have turned 80 last month but her devotion to building a more equal Mexican society remains undiminished. Should Lopez Obrador win the July 1 election he has vowed to name her in his cabinet as Secretary of Culture.
“I will fight for this and I hope with all my heart that the left wins. For me it will be a tragedy if Lopez Obrador does not win,” Poniatowska said recently.
During her visit, Poniatowska met with students at the Plaza Universidad in downtown Guadalajara, before appearing with Lopez Obrador at the Minerva after the debate. The grass roots student movement #YoSoy132 has given her hope ahead of the election, she said. “It is as clean, transparent and spontaneous as the movement of 1968.”
“The movement is independent and they will vote for whoever they want,” Poniatowska affirmed, denying any official link between #YoSoy132 and Lopez Obrador’s National Regeneration Movement (Morena). “But when they say they are against Enrique Peña Nieto it is logical to think that they will vote for Andres Manuel.”
Following the death of Carlos Fuentes last month, Poniatowska has taken on the mantle of the country’s most celebrated living author, journalist and intellectual. Reflecting her status as a national treasure of the left, she received a special tribute from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to mark her 80th birthday.
“Her pen has always been a tool of solidarity and she has raised her voice on many occasions to speak up for those who have been silenced by injustice, inequality and fear,” said UNAM rector Jose Narro.
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