Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa
Author:Mario Vargas Llosa [Llosa, Mario Vargas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571365678
Google: y1EiEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2021-11-09T00:00:00+00:00
XXI
COLONEL CASTILLO ARMAS OPENED HIS EYES, as he did every day, without need of an alarm, at exactly 5:30 in the morning. Even if he had gone to bed lateâwhich he was forced to do often as president of the republicâhis body was used to rising with the first light of the day, and had been since his cadet days at the Politécnica. To keep from waking Odilia, he tiptoed to the bathroom to shave and shower. When he saw his lean face in the mirror, with bags under his eyes, his pajamas sagging at the shoulders and waist, he realized heâd lost weight again. No wonder. With his headachesâa daily occurrence for three years nowâand the imbeciles and traitors surrounding him, it was normal that he start to waste away. Eating had never been a passion of his; drinking was another matter. But lately food had begun to disgust him, and heâd had to force down a bit of fruit at breakfast or the tortilla with beans and chilies he had at midday whenever he wasnât called to an official luncheon. At night he made himself eat one dish, at least, along with the two glasses of rum he drank to relax and forget the bitter taste of those days that had long been filling him with frustration and rage.
While he shaved and showered, he asked himself once more when everything around him had started to crumble. It wasnât like this three years ago. Not at all. He remembered his arrival in Guatemala City from El Salvador after the peace negotiations with the armed forces, by the side of Ambassador John Peurifoy, that enormous gringo he had so mistrusted at first but who later behaved so admirably with him. The poor man had died in a collision, an assassination maybe, during his new posting as ambassador to Thailand, along with his son, who was riding in the car. May God have mercy on them both in heaven! He remembered the crowds who greeted him at La Aurora airport with hurrahs, applause, voices coming through loudspeakers. Like a king! That was how the civilians and soldiers had received him, friends and enemies, too, and the entire Guatemalan press. Right away, they had begun praising him, attending to his every wish, kissing his boots, begging for posts, ministries, promotions, contracts. Traitors! Rabble! Maybe it was on that very day, in the midst of his being welcomed, that things had started to go bad. Was that not the site of the first clash between the cadets from the Politécnica and the fleabag volunteers of the Army of Liberation? But there in the multitude, the incident passed unnoticed by many, himself included.
Three years later, everyone was conspiring against the government behind his back. He knew that very well. They wanted to eliminate him. Of course they did. Even his own director general of security, the Lug, a man he had entrusted with the countryâs entire special forces, the police, the military, thinking heâd watch his back better than anyone.
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