Prison life isn’t known for exemplifying social harmony—far from it. A life of internment seems to better fit philosopher Thomas Hobbes’s description of human existence before government, in the mythic state of nature: nasty, brutish, and short. But San Pedro Prison in La Paz, Bolivia, is an anomaly—a fascinating experiment that shows how, even...
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Mario Vargas Llosa admired the Cuban Revolution well into his writing career, but for more than two decades the 2010 Nobel laureate author has been the most famous exponent of classical liberalism in the Spanish-speaking world. Why did he forsake the radical collectivism of Che and Marx and embrace individual liberty instead? In his...
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Yesterday, after I had participated in the commencement exercises at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin, in Guatemala City, I was interviewed by a reporter for Prensa Libre, an important newspaper in this city. I did not know what the reporter would ask me, but I supposed that his questions might have something to do with economic affairs or...
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A few days ago, tens of thousands of Mexicans in scores of Mexican cities participated in public protests against the War on Drugs and the use of the Mexican army as anti-drug warriors. The violence that has accompanied the Mexican government’s attempts to defeat the drug dealers during the past several years has claimed perhaps as...
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Of recent human rights abusers, the liberal left points with great frequency to Augusto Pinochet, the military dictator of Chile—and for Arnold Harberger’s memories as one of the “Chicago boys” during Pinochet’s regime, see here—whose immunity from prosecution over his “disappeared” victims was dramatically challenged by the investigative crusade of a Chilean judge—as documented...
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Independent Institute Senior Fellow Alvaro Vargas Llosa was interviewed at Pepperdine University. Download mp3 file. Also, please see the following books from him: Liberty for Latin America: How to Undo Five Hundred Years of State Oppression The Che Guevara Myth and the Future of Liberty Lessons from the Poor: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Why won’t Obama’s $50 billion plan for transportation infrastructure fix the problems that road users consider to be the highest priorities? How different would Latin America be today had its political economy resembled Mario Vargas Llosa’s approach to literature? What does Bob Woodward’s latest book tell us about the Obama administration’s approach to the...
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The 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to my father, Mario Vargas Llosa, is great news for those of us who value freedom. His work, as the Swedish Academy recognized in its public statement, explores the oppressive structures of power and the plight of the individual who rebels against them. His novels examine this...
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Why would another federal “stimulus” package fail to promote long-term economic growth? How violent was the American West? What hidden strengths do the Taliban have in common with the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War? What are we to make of last week’s police protest in Ecuador? Learn the answers to these questions by...
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This week’s Lighthouse discusses the Independent Institute’s new Government Cost Calculator at www.MyGovCost.org, Robert Higgs on regime uncertainty, Joseph R. Stromberg on the decline of the Fourth Amendment, and Alvaro Vargas Llosa on next week’s elections in Venezuela. Here are links to the individual items: 1. What Is Washington’s Spending Costing You? 2. It’s...
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