Politics
Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa said on Tuesday that President Hugo Chávez has "two thorns in his flesh," referring to Colombia and Peru, two countries which, in his view, "have not yet fallen under his influence."

However, he said that the Venezuelan ruler is leading in these countries "a destabilizing campaign through popular movements and political parties."

The winner of the Miguel de Cervantes Prize 1994, the Spanish-speaking world's most distinguished literary honor, made these statements during a lecture at the University of Granada.

According to Vargas Llosa, Peruvian opposition leader and president of the Peruvian Nationalist Party (PNP), Ollanta Humala, is "the man of Chávez in Peru." The Latin American author said that "many" of "Ollanta's followers" are "chavistas" and think that Ollanta represents the Peruvian path towards the 21st Century Socialism."

"We enjoy some privileges we take for granted," reminded the Peruvian novelist. He stressed that "anyone who lives in a dictatorship like Cuba or North Korea, or in a pseudo democracy such as Venezuela, would dream of living in the substandard democracies that inspire so much contempt in those of us who live in them."