Mr. President

El Señor Presidente at its core is a fictional narrative that reads of corrupt politics. The presmise starts with the murder of a colonel that the president pins on his political enemies. Throughout the book you feel the presence of the president orchestrating and pulling string, but he barely makes an appearance. Instead, his orders are given to many but particularly to his handsome henchman nicknamed ‘Angel Face’, adding to a general statement of the mass surveilling government that works from the shadows and behind closed doors is controlling political outcomes.

This book was written in Guatamala in 1946 and drew from the time the country was ruled by Manuel Estrada Cabrera. Somehow, perhaps sadly, the book feels very relevant with the state of the world today and many governments. It reveals what so many of us have seen throughout the world when a country falls into a malevolent dictatorship: consolidation of power, neighbors turning on eachother, ruling behind a curtain, violence as a means to a goal, creation of a surveillance state, etc..

Asturias deliberately leaves the name of the president and the country out of the novel, giving it a timeless status. For me, and perhaps others, it is a cautionary tale and a warning to stay alert and educated on how those who hold political power act and consolidate that power. Highly recommend reading this!