The President

Synopsis

The president tells the story of a ruthless dictator and his schemes to dispose of a political adversary in an unnamed country usually identified as guatemala. Drawing on his experience as a journalist writing under repressive conditions, miguel angel asturias provides a blazing indictment of totalitarian government and its damaging psychological effects on society - from the harvest of terror to cowardice, to sycophancy, to treachery and intrigue, and the total sacrifice of human values to lust for power.