The writer Sergio Ramírez, this Tuesday, in Madrid.FIL (Courtesy)
The Nicaraguan writer Sergio Ramírez, exiled in Madrid and stripped of his nationality by the Government of Daniel Ortega, will coordinate the literary program that Spain will take to the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) in 2024. The Spanish Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta , has made the announcement this Tuesday during the signing of the agreement that formally establishes that Spain will be the guest of honor at the 38th edition of the editorial meeting.
"It is an honor to be able to count on your experience and wisdom for this exciting project," Iceta told Ramírez during the event.
The writer's participation "formally begins from now on", explained the minister and assured that they will know how to "live up to it": "Not because the demand is low, the demand is maximum, but also our willingness, our desire and our enthusiasm ”.
Iceta has indicated that the decision to designate Ramírez as head of Spain's literary program responds to the determination to vindicate "democracy" and "creation".
“I want to take advantage of your presence here today, dear Sergio, to reiterate the support of the Government of Spain for all Nicaraguans.
Spain is your home”, Iceta said.
Ramírez, 80, has lived in exile in Madrid since 2021 for opposing the regime of Daniel Ortega, a former partner in the fight against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza.
The author, former vice president of Nicaragua, was stripped less than a week ago of his nationality and assets along with 93 other opponents, such as the novelist Gioconda Belli.
It is the latest offensive by the president and his wife, Rosario Murillo, who days before had expelled the United States and declared 222 political prisoners "stateless."
The government of the socialist Pedro Sánchez offered the exiles -among them, prominent writers, politicians, intellectuals, activists or religious- Spanish nationality.
"I will use my imagination and my knowledge to prepare a proposal that is worthy of the commission I have received," Ramírez said on Tuesday after a group of journalists present at the event asked him for a comment.
The novelist has affirmed that he assumes responsibility from his perspective as a writer in the Spanish language.
"From my condition as a Nicaraguan writer, I don't lose it because nobody can take it away from me," he said.
Ramírez has added that he is also "proud" of his Spanish nationality, which he obtained when he received the Cervantes Prize in 2017.
Also present at the event was Marisol Schulz, director of the Guadalajara International Book Fair, who assured that "Sergio Ramírez is and will always be Nicaragua, he will always be Mexican, he will always be Latin American, Spanish and a citizen of the world."
"No one can take away, neither from him nor from dear Tulita [Guerrero, Ramírez's wife], the homeland that he has helped to forge," she said.
Schulz also recalled that it is the second time that Spain has been the guest of honor at the largest book fair in Spanish, since it was in the year 2000. Schulz has said that "an opportunity to resume the dialogue on the problems and challenges of the Spanish-speaking world on both sides of the Atlantic”, and to strengthen the editorial and cultural relationship between Mexico and Spain.
This year, FIL's guest of honor is the European Union.
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