"In Mexico, We Have a Left-Wing Government, But Without Any Indigenous Representation"

Mexican writer Guillermo Arriaga is fixated on the border as a literary theme. It's no wonder for a man born in those lands. There was a time in the 19th century when Mexico lost half of its territory, an immense area equivalent to the size of Argentina. California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, as well as parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming became part of the US. Arriaga, known for screenplays like 'Amores Perros', '21 Grams', and 'Babel', has just published 'The Man' (Alfaguara), a tale about the excessive ambition that is the genesis of great fortunes.

–The character in your novel, Henry Lloyd, is a plunderer and a murderer who builds an empire...

–He is a ruthless and cruel man, yet those around him love him dearly. He is capable of generating strong loyalties, even among slaves. He may be a scoundrel, but he listens to the slaves, and they wonder: Why does he ask me, why does he listen? And that single gesture allows for strong loyalties to form.

–The book tells the story of capitalism, at least in Mexico and the US. How did that process unfold?

–I am amazed that two countries that grew almost simultaneously, one became a world power and the other a so-called Third World country. What happened in the US for barren lands like Texas or California to become, if they had been independent countries, the fourth and seventh largest economies in the world? Mexico is the US's main trading partner, yet they still treat us as immigrants.

–Trump covets new territories: Greenland, Canada... Does that worry you?

–What Trump does is awaken the American collective unconscious. To the Americans, we Mexicans are cockroaches. Canadians, on the other hand, are white.

–Can the US regain its lost glory, or is it sliding into inevitable decline?

–The US is facing its own decline, but it blames external factors. It turns out that the two countries that pushed hardest for globalization are the first to jump ship, the UK with Brexit, and now the US with Trumpism. It was the US that designed this form of capitalism, that promoted the theories of Friedman and the Chicago School economists.

–If someone becomes a millionaire, does their fortune radiate and benefit others?

–That's what Reagan said, that wealth would trickle down like a waterfall. But when that waterfall didn't reach the white classes, who began to impoverish, resentment emerged. The same people who voted for Brexit now vote for Trump.

–And why do these losing classes, instead of demanding social justice, choose extremist solutions?

–Because when the world becomes abstract, we turn to the concrete, to my race, my social class, my country, my football team...

–The border between Mexico and the United States has been a literary obsession for you. How has Mexico coped with having such a powerful neighbor?

–Dictator Porfirio Díaz summed it up: "So far from God and so close to the United States." Mexico had a growth engine thanks to its link with the US. But now that Trump threatens to close the border to bring factories back to the US, that advantage has vanished. It has been a complex and very symbiotic relationship.

–And how do you address slavery in your novel?

–Slavery is humanity's great blemish. And it hasn't ended: it has become more sophisticated. The illegal migrant, without papers, is excluded from social benefits. They always live in fear of being expelled.

–Do you think Spain should apologize for the "atrocities of the conquest," as President Claudia Sheinbaum demands?

–There are groups in Mexico that felt humiliated by the conquest. But the saddest part is that they remain humiliated. Despite having a left-wing government—and I am left-wing—there is no high-ranking indigenous official in the executive. None. It is worth reflecting on how we have integrated indigenous communities. And after that, then yes, apologize.

–In today's world, fear and fury prevail. Can anything good come out of that?

–Vargas Llosa once asked in 'The Truth of Lies' if it was so bad to be Swiss. Living in a society where everything is resolved is boring, but I prefer a boring society, without violence and with opportunities.