The Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2011, has been hospitalized since last Wednesday afternoon in a clinic in Madrid, where he has been treated for complications related to COVID-19, wrote his daughter, the photographer Morgana Vargas Llosa, on her Twitter account.
“In view of the information that is being disseminated regarding the state of health of Mario Vargas Llosa, his three children, who are with him, we share this brief statement. A few days ago, in view of some complications related to Covid, he was admitted to a clinic in Madrid. Thanks to the treatment, his condition evolves favorably. He and his family are grateful for the tokens we are receiving and we ask the press to respect his privacy. Álvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana Vargas Llosa,” said the historian.
According to Semana de España, his partner, Isabel Preysler, and his daughter, Tamara Falcó, are next to the novelist: they accompanied him on admission to the hospital and are watching him at all times. The same magazine reported that he is “out of danger”, however, he is being hospitalized preventively so that doctors can control any complications or problems arising from this virus due to his 86th birthday, which he turned last March 28.
Vargas Llosa had planned to attend Seville for the opening speech of the April Fair where his friend, the Spanish writer Felix de Azúa, was going to read. However, due to the illness he decided to stay in the Spanish capital.
The Nobel Prize winner for Literature was also scheduled to attend the presentation of the book Cervantes by the director of the Royal Spanish Academy, Santiago Muñoz Machado, which was due to the Peruvian writer's state of health, it was postponed to next Monday, April 25, although it is unknown whether it will change again the date for what happens to one of the greatest exponents of the Latin American boom.
Vargas Llosa had presented in Madrid La mirada quieta, published by the Alfagura publishing house, his latest book and the eighth literary essay; an analysis of the literature of Benito Pérez Galdós. The writer felt fatigued during the event.
He also gave an interview to Chile's La Tercera where he called Peruvian President Pedro Castilloi/i “illiterate” and called the “bloodthirsty dictator” Vladimir Putin regime for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“Peru is not getting ahead, it is trapped, because it has chosen badly, because it has elected a president who is absolutely illiterate, a person who does not have the necessary information and a government that already shows many symptoms of corruption, mismanagement, irresponsible management. Approximately 70% of Peruvians want to be removed from office (...) I suspect that he will not end his term of office,” he said.
PREYSLER DOES NOT PART WITH MVLL
The presenter Adela González of “Sálvame” said that Isabel Preysler is keeping abreast of what is happening with Vargas Llosa's health. For her part, her partner in the program, Terelu Campos added that the writer “is neither in the ICU nor in the ICU”.
The last time Isabel Preysler and Mario Vargas Llosa appeared together in public was on March 22 of this year when they attended the Teatro Real in Madrid. Then, the novelist was seen at a colloquium on March 29, one day after his birthday, at Club Siglo XXI.
The presentation of The Quiet Look was one of his last public events before testing positive for COVID-19.
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