For Peri Rossi, the outbreaks of xenophobia in Europe reflect the lack of tolerance between peoples.
Cristina Peri Rossi, brand new winner of the Cervantes Award 2021, has been characterized throughout his life by a solid political commitment that began in his native Uruguay and continued since he settled in Spain in the 1970s.
Cristina Peri Rossi, at 80, becomes the sixth woman to win the Cervantes Prize
In 1972 his work and even his name (uses the mother’s last name in homage to her passing on the passion for letters) they were banned as a result of the events prior to the coup that began the Uruguayan civil-military dictatorship (1973-1985). That motivated his exile in Spain and he would never return to live in Uruguay.
She arrived in Spain with ten dollars in her pocket and without knowing where she was going to spend the first night in this country, since she was nothing more than an “Uruguayan exile.”, as he would recall years later. But only a week later he was already working at the publishing house Lumen.
And although he became a Spanish national and lives in Barcelona -after a brief exile from Spain during the Franco regime-, he still does not lose his Uruguayan nationality, from where he brought his combative spirit.
As a young man, when I was working at the magazine March supported the leftist coalition of the Frente Amplio -of which would come Tabaré Vázquez or José Mujica-, and was against nationalism and xenophobia, a position that he has maintained throughout his life, along with a fierce defense of freedom.
In an event in Murcia (southeast of Spain) in 1992, He assured that he was disturbed and anguished by the increase in xenophobia, which in his opinion “is nothing more than a reaction against poverty, because there are no problems against rich foreigners”, and that this would be the only reason that would lead her to leave Europe.
For Peri Rossi, Outbreaks of xenophobia in Europe reflect the lack of tolerance between peoples. How can foreigners be loved if they don’t love each other? He wondered.
A few years later, he asserted that nationalisms are reductionist and end where Adolf Hitler did when he asserted the existence of a superior race.
“It is a reduction to believe that there are essences (…) Essences are part of the mineral kingdom, they are inanimate stones, and identity is something that flows. If we all think the same as rats or cockroaches there is no possibility of evolving ”.
And in an article published in 2007 in the Spanish newspaper The world assured that “Fascisms have something in common: they are always exclusive. They exclude for ideological reasons, race, sex or language ”.
A problem that he suffered directly. The writer denounced that same year that she was fired from Catalunya Ràdio for speaking in Spanish, a fact that provoked a solidarity manifesto that had the support of personalities of Catalan culture such as Ana Maria Moix, Esther Tusquets or Enric Majó.
Another of his workhorses has been the rights of women, with a focus on prostitution.
“The patriarchal society justifies prostitution. When we believe that slavery has been abolished, it turns out that there are female slaves “, he lamented five years ago.
Peri Rossi has also criticized the false information offered in Latin America, and has pointed out that the great problem for Latin American storytellers is the lack of communication.
And has even lashed out at the prizes in Spain, which are “negotiated” and constitute a “Commercial Operation”, which in his opinion is “very unfair”, especially for those people to whom presenting themselves involves a personal effort. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
