51�Թ�

He even used to pretend his family had immigrated to Cuba to flee the dictatorship of Fidel Castro, finding refuge in the United States, "welcomed by the most compassionate people on all the Earth."

Friends of García Márquez said the dispute had revolved around García Márquez's friendship with Vargas Llosa's then-wife, Patricia, but Vargas Llosa told students at a Madrid university in 2017 that it had been down to their opposing views on Cuba and its communist leader, Fidel Castro.

Like many intellectuals, Vargas Llosa supported Fidel Castro but became disillusioned with the communist leader following the "Padilla Affair" when poet Heberto Padilla was imprisoned for criticising the Cuban government in 1971.

Among its most spectacular and alarming findings were the CIA’s many assassination attempts against Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

It has long considered Guantanamo Bay to be "occupied" and has denounced the existence of a US naval base on the island ever since Fidel Castro swept to power in 1959.