by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Carlos Monsiváis
MEXICO MOURNS: Essayist and journalist Carlos Monsiváis, a popular chronicler of contemporary Mexican society and constant critic of its government,died June 19 in Mexico City. He was 72.
For over 50 years, Monsiváis published essays and crónicas that detailed the historic changes and social trends in Mexico, and wrote extensively on his country’s popular culture and literature. His ubiquitous presence in Mexican media and appearances at cultural events made him a household name among Mexicans, many of whom referred to him with a nickname.
“What will we do without you, Monsi,” asked colleague and friend Elena Poniatowska at a memorial at the Palacio de BellasArtes in Mexico City, voicing the sentiment of a grieving nation.
Born in 1938, Monsiváis came of age in the 1950s under the influence of the Beat Generation and the civil rights movement in the U.S. As a young journalist he was deeply moved by the 1968 massacre of students during a Mexico City protest and in 1970 published Los procesos de México, about the trials of 68 students arrested during the bloody incident.
He published extensively in Mexico’s leading newspapers and magazines and earned several awards, including the 2006 Premio Juan Rulfo.
Never married, he was an avid art collector and animal lover who lived with dozens of cats; an avowed leftist and staunch defender of gay rights, although he never discussed his own sexual preference. His memorial coincided with Mexico City’s gay pride celebration and his coffin was covered with the movement’s rainbow flag before the Mexican flag was draped over it.
Monsiváis died a day after Portuguese novelist José Saramago, a friend and ideological ally.
In another item, singer Sergio Vega was killed by gunshot June 26 while traveling on a road near Los Mochis, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. He was 40.
According to police, he was driving a red Cadillac and approaching a toll booth when assailants in another car fired more than 30 shots at him. He died at the scene.
Vega, popularly known as El Shaka, joins a growing group of norteño and grupero performers killed violently in Mexico in the last few months. Most prominent are Valentín Elizalde, killed in Tamaulipas in 2006 and Sergio Gómez, killed in 2008 in Michoacán.
MEMBERSHIP EXTENDED: The two Latin American directors nominated for an Oscar last year have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, giving them a chance to vote on future nominees.
Argentina’s Juan José Campanella, the Oscar winner for El secreto de sus ojos and Perú’s Claudia Llosa, nominated for La teta asustada, are among 135 filmmakers who received the invitation this year, the Academy announced.
Membership is optional and awarded by invitation. This year’s crop of invi- tees includes actors Zoe Saldana and Miguel Ferrer and writer Roberto Orci. Hispanic Link.
