Sergio Ramirez Urges Spain to Oppose Authoritarianism
Ramirez insists that Central America should not be “ignored” or “set aside” in the face of democratic decline in the region.
HAVANA TIMES – On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Nicaraguan author and former vice president Sergio Ramírez called on Spain to take the lead within the European Union to “preserve” democratic institutions and to maintain a “critical” stance against authoritarianism in Central America.
Speaking at the summer courses of the Complutense University of Madrid, the 2017 Cervantes Prize winner—the most prestigious literary award in Spain—urged the EU to strengthen its own model of democratic pluralism and to take an interest, within the framework of the EU–Central America Association Agreement, in the tensions plaguing the region.
For this reason, Ramírez (born in Masatepe, 1942) considers Spain a “natural bridge” of communication between Latin America and the European Union and believes it should press Europe to take up this role.
In this context, amid the “deterioration” of democracy in the United States and the rise of authoritarian poles around the world, he defended the EU’s position as a “crucial” point of reference in Central America.
“I don’t think a resolution by the European Union or the Spanish government will change the course of events, but a critical stance is very important in order to set boundaries for what is tolerated when it comes to authoritarianism,” emphasized the author of works such as Divine Punishment and Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea.
At the same time, aware of the conflicts and political tensions affecting European countries—such as the war in Ukraine—Ramírez insisted that Central America should not be “ignored” or “set aside.”
Fleeing misery, persecution, and crime
Ramírez, who served as Nicaragua’s vice president from 1985 to 1990, offered an examination of two hundred years of Central American history during the Geopolitical Trends (VI) course held at the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. He highlighted the impact of public security problems in the region, such as organized crime and drug trafficking.
Along these lines, he explained how people flee misery and violence in their countries and arrive in the United States, only to face a “perverse” American dream that now “denies” migrants more than ever.
The writer described Central America as having a “fragmented” face, difficult to view as a whole because it is now “far from political integration.” Yet, thanks to its sometimes contradictory identity, it endures precisely because of that: “It doesn’t allow itself to be overtaken by homogeneity.”
In this sense, the Cervantes Prize winner affirmed the role of culture—the “best” face of Central America—which can teach, transform, and illuminate reality.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.