Mario Vargas LLosa

Dear Editor,I am a long time fan of Mario Vargas LLosa – the writer of amazingly good fiction. I also respect his political and social views – however much I disagree with them at times. So it was very disappointing to see his performance in Venezuela. His behaviour right from the beginning on CNN verged in boorish. I fully expected him to disagree with Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution but did he have to do so in such an "American" fashion? And then end up by not showing up for the debate?Mario Vargas LLosa should have started out with his right-wing conference by offering to help organize a respectful, open debate between left and right wingers in Latin America – not acting like his opponents are all Stalinist fanatics. The saddest thing for me personally is that many of my Latin American friends who have long denounced Mario Vargas Llosa as "reactionary" in some important ways – have been proven correct.But this does not change two basic facts:(1) We still need open, respectful and honest debate between right and left – especially in this time of global crisis in capitalism.(2) Vargas Llosa is a great fiction writer – and perhaps he blured the lines between fiction and non-fiction, both for himself and his followers.Sincerely,John RichmondTorontoCanada