Remembering Mario Vargas Llosa… and his feud with Gabriel Marquez

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Remembering Mario Vargas Llosa… and his feud with Gabriel Marquez

The Peruvian author—also a journalist, Nobel laureate and politician—died peacefully at the age of 89 in Lima on Sunday. He is survived by his children Álvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana Vargas Llosa. The country has declared a national day of mourning.

Quick backstory: Born in Arequipa in 1936, Vargas Llosa started his career as a journalist—much like Gabriel Garcia Marquez—a fellow master of ‘magic realism’. He had a rich and eventful life:

Over a career that spanned more than 50 years, Vargas Llosa charted power and corruption in a series of novels including The Time of the Hero, Conversation in the Cathedral and The Feast of the Goat. Living a life that was as colourful as his fiction, Vargas Llosa also launched a failed bid for the Peruvian presidency, nursed a long-running feud with Gabriel García Márquez and triumphed as a Nobel laureate in 2010.

After the dust settled on his failed political career, Vargas Llosa said: “Part of the reasons I have lived the life I have is because I wanted to have an adventurous life. But my best adventures are more literary than political.”

One of those adventures: was a dramatic feud with Garcia Marquez. They started out as friends—but soon had a falling out. When Garcia Márquez greeted Vargas Llosa outside a Mexico City cinema in 1976, he was punched in the face—and received a black eye captured in this iconic photo:

No one knows the exact details—but some say it had something to do with Llosa’s wife:

The story goes that Vargas Llosa landed a right hook on García Márquez’s left eye, rasping ‘that’s for what you did to Patricia.’ The Patricia in question is Vargas Llosa’s second wife, whom he married in 1965, and with whom it is insinuated García Márquez was having an affair during the Vargas Llosas’ brief period of separation after an alleged infidelity by the Peruvian.

You can see them in happier times in the lead image (Yes, Vargas Llosa was hot!). More on that feud among legends in Latino Life. Al Jazeera and The Guardian have excellent tributes to his career. Granta Magazine offers an excerpt from his autobiography ‘Fish out of Water’ which chronicles the lead up to his 1990 Presidential run.

Caught in Belgium: Mehul-bhai runs out of luck

The backstory: Jewellery titan Mehul Choksi—and his nephew Nirav Modi—fled India in January 2018 to evade fraud charges. The CBI accused the mama-bhanja duo of scamming Punjab National Bank (PNB) to the tune of Rs 13,500 crore ($1.8 billion). Basically, they borrowed a lot of money with zero intention of repaying any of it. All the details in this Big Story.

Choksi’s Caribbean vacay: Nirav Modi was soon arrested in the UK in 2019—and is battling extradition in a London jail. But his way smarter uncle had secured citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda—even before he went on the run. Mehul has long been hanging out in the Caribbean—thumbing his nose at Indian authorities. There is a long, lurid tale of the Indian security agencies’ attempts to abduct him—which you can read in this Big Story.

What happened now: In 2023, any hope of bringing Choksi home vanished when Interpol withdrew its Red Notice against him—leaving him free to roam the world without the fear of arrest. Except Choksi has now been arrested in Belgium—where he was reportedly undergoing cancer treatment. He had obtained a residency card by leveraging his wife Preeti Choksi’s Belgian citizenship—but submitted "false declarations" and "forged documents.” And since Belgium has an extradition treaty with India, he has been nabbed at New Delhi’s request.

We now have very paavam shots of Choksi being ushered out of a police van in a hospital gown:

What’s next: His lawyer claims Choksi was “tortured” when he was kidnapped by Indian agents back in 2021:

“Also, he was tortured and that he has faced physical deformity because of the torture. He is suffering from traumatic PTFD (Proximal Tibiofibular Fracture and Dislocation) because of the torture he had faced when he was picked up from Antigua to Dominica. He was kidnapped at that time. It is our appeal that India had sent henchmen who tortured him,” he said.

If proven, the prospects of extradition could be slim—given the EU’s strict human rights laws. Indian Express and BBC News have the reporting of his arrest. Mint has more on Choksi’s move from the Caribbean to Belgium. We explored the background of the scam and his lurid kidnapping tale in 2021 in this Big Story.

Meta’s battle to keep WhatsApp & Instagram

On Monday, a high-stakes antitrust trial kicked off in DC. It pits the top US antitrust body—the Federal Trade Commission—against Meta. At stake: the company’s $1.4 trillion advertising business—and the fave business tactic of Big Tech.

The allegations: The FTC is accusing Meta of “illegally maintaining its monopoly” of the “personal social networking market”—by buying potential rivals like Instagram ($1 billion in 2012) and WhatsApp ($22 billion in 2014). That’s why it has barely any competition other than Snap—a monopoly it has used to make big advertising bucks. By virtue of its monopoly, FTC claims that Meta a) demolished user privacy, b) forced advertisers to accept pricier and glitchier services and c) scared off future competitors.

The potential fallout: If found guilty of antitrust violations, the judge could order Meta to sell Instagram and WhatsApp—an earthshaking breakup not seen in 40 years—when AT&T was forced to give up its monopoly over telephones.

The Meta defence: No, it is not just a social networking service that allows people to stay in touch. Meta is also involved in “the general idea of entertainment and learning about the world and discovering what’s going on.” So it can hardly be accused of being a monopoly—when it has stiff competition from giants like YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn etc. The evidence:

Mr. Hansen said more than half of all engagement on Facebook and Instagram involved videos, which put Meta squarely in competition with TikTok, the fast-growing short-video app. When TikTok was momentarily shut down in January, Meta saw a surge of use on Facebook and Instagram, as did Google’s YouTube, which showed the company had plenty of competition, he said.

The FTC response: is that it is narrowly focused on the social media space—where the company commanded over 80% of users’ time. And the Zuck himself referred to the Insta purchase as a move to "neutralize a potential competitor” in an internal email.

But, but, but: It won’t be easy to win this case:

Still, legal experts cautioned that it might be challenging for the F.T.C. to win. That’s because the government must prove something unknowable: that Meta would not have achieved the same success without the acquisitions. It is also extremely rare to try to unwind mergers approved years ago, legal experts said.

The big picture: If Meta loses, the biggest blow will be the loss of Insta ads—which are an estimated 50% of its US revenue. Instagram is also key to maintaining its hold on younger users—needed for future ad sales. Beyond Meta, FTC is challenging the way Silicon Valley has always done business—by snapping up younger, smaller rivals to ensure market dominance.

Reading list: Wired has the best background and coverage to the Meta trial, but it’s paywalled. For a free and shorter roundup, check out NPR and BBC News. New York Times has a history of Mark’s court appearances and testimonies.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Tariff turmoil is turning into big bucks—Goldman Sachs joins the Wall Street crew raking in profits from a trading surge.
Financial Times (splainer gift link) has a must-read on how India’s middle-class debt crisis is threatening economic growth.
An update on the new Cold War brewing in the Panama canal—Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte’s family-run firm has overtaken BlackRock as the lead investor in a consortium seeking to buy two Panama ports, from a Hong Kong-based company.
Europe is scrambling to break its dependence on satellites owned and operated by Elon Musk's Starlink, and find a homegrown alternative.
Say hello to WhatsApp’s dozen new features—inspired by other platforms like Discord.
The iPad’s software will slowly start to resemble the Mac—thanks to a redesigned iPad0S 19.
For the first time ever, AI is being used at the nuclear power plant Diablo Canyon in California. Gizmodo has more.
In an apparent attempt to get ahead of the impact of Trump's tariffs, Sony is raising PS5 prices in Europe and the UK.
2025 has so far been marked by a layoff crisis—with at least 40,000 jobs cut as tech and pharma firms are turning increasingly towards AI.
Nvidia’s going all in on home turf—pledging $500 billion to build AI servers in the US as tech’s reshoring spree rolls on.

sports & entertainment

The ‘Harry Potter’ HBO reboot just locked in its Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Hagrid and more—Hogwarts is officially open for casting.
Jennifer Lopez will host this year’s American Music Awards on May 26.
CSK ended a five-match losing streak by chasing down 168 against the Lucknow Super Giants, with three balls to spare. The player of the match: sprightly uncapped youngster MS Dhoni, who smashed an unbeaten 26 off just 11 balls.

health & environment

Pfizer pulls the plug on its once-promising weight-loss drug danuglipron after a clinical trial patient showed signs of liver damage.
A sacred pilgrimage took a nasty turn for several travelers as a cholera superbug outbreak traced to Ethiopian holy water left at least seven people in the UK and Germany hospitalised—though all survived.
The News Minute has a good read on how five maternal deaths in Karnataka expose deadly flaws in India’s drug regulation system—and the cost of apathy in patient safety.
Also from The News Minute: An investigation into how misgovernance and neglect have turned daily life in the Andamans into a bureaucratic battleground for residents.

meanwhile, in the world

In an appalling act, ICE arrested Columbia Uni student Mohsen Mahdawi—at his citizenship appointment in Vermont (!?)—despite 10 years in the US, and a current legal permanent resident.
The Guardian has an in-depth look into why 43 women in Argentina are suing Opus Dei—alleging they were lured with education promises but forced into unpaid servitude and harsh religious discipline.
Elon Musk’s approval ratings are nosediving—Silver Bulletin says 53.5% of Americans now view him unfavourably, up from 38% at the start of 2024.
In a defiant Oval Office moment, El Salvador’s President Bukele told Trump he won’t return a wrongly deported Maryland man—despite a Supreme Court order.
A Wisconsin teen accused of killing his parents allegedly did it to bankroll a plot to assassinate Donald Trump and overthrow the US government, per a newly unsealed federal warrant.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi is headed to Moscow this week to brief Russia on backchannel Iran-US talks recently held in Oman.
Bangladesh has issued an arrest warrant for UK MP Tulip Siddiq—accusing her of illegally bagging land in a corruption probe tied to her aunt, ousted PM Sheikh Hasina.

meanwhile, in India

The Hindu has a good take on how the violence in Murshidabad lays bare West Bengal’s deepening communal rift—and the political games fuelling it.
Telangana just became the first state to officially roll out Scheduled Caste sub-categorisation—kicking off the new quota law from April 14, post the Supreme Court’s landmark green light last year.
Physical boarding passes may soon be history—International Civil Aviation Organisation is cooking up a digital “journey pass” that uses facial recognition to replace check-ins and paper permits by 2028.
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has kicked up a fresh controversy—allegedly urging students to chant “Jai Shri Ram” at a college event in Madurai.
Over 200 arrested in Murshidabad after protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned deadly—leaving three dead and police scrambling to restore calm.
For the first time since 2013 (barring the pandemic), Delhi Police blocked the annual Palm Sunday ‘Way of the Cross’ procession—citing law and order concerns, leaving the Catholic community “shocked and anguished.”
Mehbooba Mufti has urged the Centre to step in after reports that Saudi Arabia slashed India’s private Hajj pilgrim quota by a whopping 80%.

Six things to see

One: Just a week after the controversy over Ghibli memes (explained here), ChatGPT has doled out yet another bit of AI slop—a Barbie version of yourself. The weirdest bit: the trend started on LinkedIn—which may explain why the memes are so meh. This time, there is no furore over the “Barbie Box Challenge”—and it’s available on the free version. If you really, really need to Barbie-fy yourself, here’s a guide. We personally think this ‘corporate’ version is kinda more ick than the original Barbie. (The Verge)

Two: On Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 134th birth anniversary on Monday, officials in Dharwad, Karnataka, unveiled a massive metal replica of the Preamble. It is about 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide and weighs 1,500 kg!—and the text is etched in both English and Kannada. (The Hindu)

Three: Aimee Lou Wood called out Saturday Night Live’s parody of The White Lotus season 3—for being "mean and unfunny" because it made fun of her appearance. As she put it,”I have big gap teeth not bad teeth. The rest of the skit was punching up and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on.” (The Guardian)

Four: Here’s something that’ll make you feel old. All the five stars of the 1985 classic ‘The Breakfast Club’—Judd Nelson, Emilio Estèvez, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald—reunited for a panel at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo on Saturday. This marks their first reunion in 40 years! Hey, it makes a change from yet another ‘Friends’ reunion. (though the clips are seriously lame) (Today)

Five: Here’s the trailer for Saif Ali Khan’s upcoming flick ‘Jewel Thief’—which marks his first return to Netflix since ‘Sacred Games’. The plot gives us Ocean 11 vibes: Jaideep Ahlawat and Khan plot to steal the ultra-rare African Red Sun diamond with a cop on their tail—played by Kunal Kapoor. The thriller is slated to release on April 25. (Indian Express)

Six: The trailer for ‘Murderbot’ just dropped. It's a 10-episode sci-fi comedy series based on the bestselling book series ‘The Murderbot Diaries’ by Martha Wells. The story follows a rogue and sentient cyborg that is designed to kill but who is also compelled to work with humans. It stars Alexander Skarsgård as the lead AI. The series drops on May 16 on Apple TV+. (Ars Technica)