Latin American writers regret the presence of María Corina Machado at the Hay Festival and cancel their participation: “It goes beyond the limits”

Restrepo, author of “Delirio” (Alfaguara Prize 2004), sent a letter to the festival director, Cristina de la Fuente, in which she expressed her disagreement with the invitation from Machado, whom she described as an “active supporter of United States military intervention in Latin America.”

“Inviting Ms. Machado as a speaker crossed the line. You cannot give a platform and facilitate a hearing to those who, like Ms. Machado, promote positions and activities in favor of the submission of our peoples and against the sovereignty of our countries“Restrepo said in the letter, distributed by several users on social media.

The organization of There is a party Last November, she announced some of the names invited to the 2026 edition of this cultural event, born 37 years ago in the Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye and celebrated each year in different cities around the world. On this occasion, Cartagena will host the festival between January 29 and February 1.

For his part, the Poet Caputo He said in an Instagram post that since learning of Machado’s invitation, his participation in the event has been “intensely” questioned.

“I thought I would talk about the extrajudicial killings committed by the United States in the waters of the Caribbean Sea, the Venezuelan oil theft that the United States just committed, and all the political darkness that (U.S. President Donald) Trump and Machado heralded and is yet to come,” he wrote.

Caputo added, however, that “neither the table nor the time will be sufficient for this” and that, “between the doubt that arises between attending and talking about all this or directly canceling participation”, he opted for the latter solution “given the serious situation of increasing imperial violence that is occurring in front of the bombed waters of the Caribbean Sea and that (the festival) has decided to invite the one who dedicated a peace prize to the fascist responsible for these crimes”.

Critics of the Nobel Peace Prize

“The hype given to a policy that functions as legitimize an invasion military, armed with genocidaires, fascists and war criminals like Trump and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu,” he said.

The same sentiment was expressed by Dominican Drullard, who shared on social media a screenshot of an email sent to the Hay Festival organization to decline her participation.

“I just realized that María Corina Machado is invited. I do not want to share the same space with her (…) I cannot attend an event without the slightest worry support pro-genocide positions and interventionists through the mobilization of those who promote it,” he said.

Drullard added that “the genocide in Palestine continues and it is shameful that they collaborate and amplify voices that support and call for Netanyahu’s intervention in the Latin American region.”

The Hay Festival has released a statement in which it defends that its spirit is to offer a “space for reflection and plural conversation” and that to do this its program includes “voices from different backgrounds, traditions and positions”. Finally, he adds that he respects the opinions of those who canceled their participation, even if he does not share their approach.