Diplomacy in a sense is the opposite of writing. You have to disperse yourself so much: the lady who comes in crying because she's had a fight with the secretary; exports and imports; students in trouble; thumbtacks for the embassy.

Much later in his life he commented that "The United States is very good at understanding itself and very bad at understanding others. " Fuentes also criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez dubbing him "a tropical Mussolini". His politics caused him to be blocked from entering the United States until a Congressional intervention in 1967.

Carlos Fuentes Macías (November 11 1928 – May 15 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. His many literary honors include the Miguel de Cervantes Prize as well as Mexico's highest award the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor.