Page 179 - Results 2015: AC/E Programme for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture

LITERATUREintErViEW179/violence, ma a kidnappings or acts of terrorism. Put like that, it seems pretty much like what we are seeing in the rest of the world. We are living violent times and so sharing re ections on violence in di erent societies can maybe help to discover some of the underlying lines of logic behind itand ways to assess its speci c scope in each case. It is just as mistaken and fundamentally dangerous to treat all violence as the sameas it is to consider each type of violence as unique. We must seek what di erent kinds of violence have in common and what makes them di erent in order to nd suitable solutions.Q - Beyond thinking about it, what actions can we really take against this problem?A - As a writer organising a festival, I think we can have debates together, and analyse, explain and relate stories of violence. And we can expose its rhetoric and its excuses. at is our type of action. As citizens, we must demand that authorities combat violence and seek out its perpetrators and ght to eliminate the economic, social and political issues that feed it. If we don’t do this, for every perpetrator arrested another one will take his place. And it should be done with the law and respect for human rights in the hand. After all, the biggest threat from violence, the collective threat beyond the danger to the life and healthof its direct victims, is that it often serves as the excuse to restrict liberties and rights and so undermine democracy.Q - What could the festival do particularly to make you happy? What do you expect from it?A - I’d like to see it spark curiosity in reading and a desire for discovery amongnew readers. I’d like it to bring to both Puerto Rican society and the international literary community a handful of good ideas from the talks taking place over the next few days. at would be no mean feat.