A Look into The Human Rights and Inter-State Abuses of Foreign Powers and Autocrats in García Márquez: An International Law and Literature Study

Reading some works of literature through the lens of international law permits readers to become aware of that legal system’s relevance in complex political situations, and so may trigger curiosity and be a tool to foster education and increase the circle of those who discuss about international law, encouraging creative answers that may be ignored by those who only read strictly legal texts. Additionally, such reading can highlight the raison d’être of international legal regimes, reveal their shortcomings and promises, and generate empathy with the victims of abuses against them. These arguments are explored and supported through the analysis of The Autumn of the Patriarch, a Latin American novel about a local dictator, in relation to three dimensions narrated therein: abuses against human beings, intervention by foreign powers, and breaches of law that endanger coexistence and cooperation by an authoritarian regime