Harsh Times: A Novel

Metafiction is fun to read because it brings history alive with a mix of real and imagined characters and situations that frame what some might otherwise be dry facts. Llosa is a master of the genre. In HARSH TIMES, he relates the complex events surrounding the 1954 US-backed Guatemalan coup with a mix of historical and fictitious characters. President Jacobo Árbenz led a progressive administration aimed at land reform and taxing corporations. This was understandably opposed by the country’s most powerful corporation, the United Fruit Company. At the time, it was the largest worldwide distributer of bananas. I’m not sure if Guatemala was the origin of the term “banana republic” but United Fruit’s reach into its government show more clearly make it a candidate for the title.

With the support of the Eisenhower administration, notably the Dulles brothers and Guatemala’s creepy U.S. ambassador (John Peurifoy), a propaganda campaign was built around a “big lie” (i.e., that Guatemala was about to provide a foothold in the Western Hemisphere for Russian communism). Llosa claims there was little evidence for this. The marginally competent Lt. Col. Carlos Castillo Armas was installed as the successor to Árbenz and the bulk of the novel revolves around a successful conspiracy to remove Armas by assassination.

Llosa puts a human face on the Armas assassination by following the activities of largely fictitious coup plotters. Martita Borrero Parra is a particularly intriguing figure. Known as Miss Guatemala, despite never actually holding that title, she was impregnated at 14 by one of her father’s best friends. Papa disowned her and arranged a shotgun wedding. The marriage subsequently failed, Martita abandoned her child and eventually became Armas’ mistress. Her involvement in the murder is murky, but following the assassination, she sought safe harbor in Trujillo’s Dominican Republic. Llosa ends his novel with a fascinating epilogue where he interviews Martita at her home in Florida as a septuagenarian. He is too good a writer to answer every question surrounding Miss Guatemala, so much is left to the reader’s imagination.

Another fascinating creation is Johnny Abbes García. He is installed by Trujillo as chief of his military intelligence service and sent to Guatemala to orchestrate the Armas assassination. Trujillo’s motives for this are unclear but seem to involve perceived slights. Johnny and a “gringo who probably was not called Mike” worked to accomplish the task and eventually to extricate Martita from the country.

Llosa also describes the gruesome fate of Enrique Trinidad Oliva, Armas’ director of security, following the assassination. Oliva may (or may not?) have been implicated in the plot, but clearly was a scapegoat. He, along with Garcia and Peurifoy, eventually get their just deserts.

The novel is a wild ride filled with lots of dirty deeds along with some important insights. In point of fact, Llosa believes that the two most dastardly figures in the whole sorry saga were Sam Zemurray and Edward L. Bernays. The former was the founder of United Fruit, and the latter was a PR guru he hired to spread the big lie. More importantly, he believes that this act likely hindered democratization and contributed to corrupt, violent and undemocratic systems that persist to this day in the region.

Despite some murkiness resulting from the inherent complexity of the story, as well as Llosa’s use of a non-linear timeline and multiple perspectives in his often ironic and sexy narrative, the novel moves along at a swift pace and is a satisfying read. show less

Much of the time the narrator gives information on the history. I feel like I learned a lot about the situation that happened in Guatemala.

Too much infodump. Feels like reading a history textbook at times.

Guatemala, 1954. El golpe militar perpetrado por Carlos Castillo Armas y auspiciado por Estados Unidos a través de la CIA derroca el gobierno de Jacobo Árbenz. Detrás de este acto violento se encuentra una mentira que pasó por verdad y que cambió el devenir de América Latina: la acusación por parte del gobierno de Eisenhower de que Árbenz alentaba la entrada del comunismo soviético en el continente.

Tiempos recios es una historia de conspiraciones internacionales e intereses encontrados, en los años de la Guerra Fría, cuyos ecos resuenan hasta la actualidad. Un suceso que involucró a varios países y en el que algunos verdugos acabaron convirtiéndose en víctimas de la misma trama que habían ayudado a construir.

En esta show more novela apasionante, que conecta con la aclamada La Fiesta del Chivo, Mario Vargas Llosa funde la realidad con dos ficciones: la del narrador que libremente recrea personajes y situaciones, y la diseñada por aquellos que quisieron controlar la política y la economía de un continente manipulando su historia. show less

“Eindelijk nog eens een goede roman van Vargas Llosa”, las ik in enkele krantenrecensies. Nou, ik weet het niet. Dit is eigenlijk amper een roman te noemen. Vargas Llosa schetst de geschiedenis van het Centraal-Amerikaanse land Guatemala in de periode tussen 1950 en 1960. Hij heeft er geen rechtlijnig historisch verhaal van gemaakt, eerder een docu-fictie, waarbij de focus ligt op presidenten, contrarevolutionairen, en samenzweerders, zowel uit Guatemala zelf als andere Centraal-Amerikaanse landen (onder meer de beruchte Trujillo van de Dominikaanse Republiek duikt weer op). En hij heeft zijn perspectief behoorlijk door elkaar geschud, met voortdurende verspringingen in tijd en ruimte, zodat je je hoofd er echt wel bij moet houden. show more Interessant, daar niet van, maar echt tot leven komen de diverse personages niet. Het lijkt me dat Vargas Llosa vooral zijn moralistische boodschap kwijt wou in dit boek. Namelijk, dat de nogal klunzige, anticommunistische politiek van de Verenigde Staten eigenlijk een omgekeerd effect had. Wel, daar had ik deze roman/docufictie eigenlijk niet voor nodig. show less

1951 gewinnt Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán die Wahlen in Guatemala. Er will die Demokratisierung und Modernisierung des Landes vorantreiben, doch seine Landreform ist der mächtigen United Fruit Company ein Dorn im Auge. Als man ihn deshalb fälschlicherweise der Anhängerschaft des Kommunismus bezichtigt, beginnen die USA seinen Sturz zu betreiben und verändern so die guatemaltekische Geschichte.

Vargas Llosas politischer Roman umfasst einen Zeitraum von fast 15 Jahren, beginnend mit den ersten demokratischen Wahlen in Guatemala 1945 bis zur von Trujillisten geplanten Ermordung des 1954 an die Macht geputschten Diktators Carlo Castillo Armas. Insbesondere untersucht der Autor, angereichert mit fiktiven Elementen und aus den jeweiligen show more Blickwinkeln der Hauptprotagonisten die Operation PBSUCCESS, sohin die erste Geheimdienstoperation der USA im Rahmen derer Rollback-Politik im kalten Krieg. Vargas Llosas Werk fast ist fast mehr politisch-historisches Essay und Anklage, die Handlung verlässt den eigentlichen Schauplatz Guatemala und bietet einen Ausblick auf die Auswirkungen der antikommunistischen Rollback-Politik auf ganz Zentralamerika.

"Harte Jahre hat allerdings auch Schwächen: Anders als bei seinem Meisterwerk "Das Fest des Ziegenbocks", dessen Handlung in derselben Region angesiedelt ist und dessen Hauptprotagonisten in beiden Romanen auftreten, gelingt es Vargas Llosa nicht ganz so gut, die unterschiedlichen Perspektiven und Zeitebenen zu verknüpfen. Wie andere Werke Vargas Llosas besteht auch der vorliegende Roman aus einer Konstruktion verschiedener Blickwinkeln und Zeitebenen. Doch im vorliegenden Fall fehlt das sonst so meisterhaft betriebene Zusteuern dieser unterschiedlichen Perspektiven auf einen gemeinsamen Höhepunkt. "Harte Jahre" ist nichtsdestotrotz fesselnd, lehrreich, gut recherchiert und kurzweilig, kann es jedoch nicht dem vorgenannten Roman "Das Fest des Ziegenbocks" und anderen Meisterwerken des Autors aufnehmen. show less

Guatemala, 1954. El, golpe militar perpetrado por Carlos castillo Armas y auspiciado por EEUU a través de la CIA derroca al gobierno De Jacobo Arbanez Detrás de este acto se encuentra una gran mentira que pasó por verdad y que cambio el devenir de América Latina: la acusación por parte de Eiseenhower de que Árbanez alentaba la entrada del comunismo soviético en el continente.