1962 - CARLOS FUENTES (Mexican Novelist and Former Ambassador to France)


In 1962, Fuentes was invited to debate the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs on the U.S. economic plan for Latin America. His visa was denied, reportedly because the State Department suspected he was a Communist. Fuentes was an outspoken opponent of ideological exclusion. He believed hearing other political perspectives was essential for the American public "to be involved and to evaluate the nature of these policies, if they are good or bad, or to vote them down through its representatives in Congress."