CARLOS FUENTES
(Carlos Fuentes Macías)
He was referring to the fact that the Spaniards had not only explored but settled much of America before the English settlers ever came. When Americans came to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and California, the Hispanics were already there and had been for some time. Spanish was the language of all these states before they were states and of many of the residents after they had become states. When the United States bought New Mexico and Arizona from Mexico, Spanish was the principle language in those territories. Those that would argue that immigrants should not bring new languages to America have little knowledge of history. Spanish was spoken in much of America long before anyone ever said a word in English.
Carlos Fuentes Macías was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962), Aura (1962), Terra Nostra (1975), The Old Gringo (1985) and Christopher Unborn (1987). In his obituary, The New York Times described Fuentes as "one of the most admired writers in the Spanish-speaking world" and an important influence on the Latin American Boom, the "explosion of Latin American literature in the 1960s and '70s", while The Guardian called him "Mexico's most celebrated novelist". His many literary honors include the Miguel de Cervantes Prize as well as Mexico's highest award, the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor (1999). He was often named as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he never won.
