Mexican writer, journalist and diplomat Carlo Fuentes Macías was born in Panama in 1928. He travelled a lot when he was young. Like his father, Fuentes became a diplomat. He studied in Mexico, Switzerland and the United States. In 1954, Dr Fuentes became director of cultural relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He left for London as ambassador in 1965, and worked in Paris until 1978.

Dr Fuentes became famous with La muerte de Artemio Cruz (1962). The novella Cambio de piel (Change of skin) was listed as a banned book in Spain in 1967. This was because it allegedly contained “pornographic, anti-Christian, communist, anti-German and pro-Jewish” language. More rejections followed. Dr Fuentes was expelled from the United States because of his ideas. He also had to leave Mexico after protesting against violent suppression of the 1968 student demonstration. He died in Mexico in 2012.

In Dr Fuentes' books, social liberation and abuse of power are recurring themes. In Contra Bush (2004), he makes a warm plea for international solidarity.