Octavio Paz, David Rousset y el universo de los campos de concentración

Abstract

This essay examines the attitude of Octavio Paz vis-a-vis surrealism and communism based upon an article which the Mexican writer published in Sur (1951), with regard to David Rousset and his denunciation of the Soviet concentration camps. The message which Paz transmitted by means of these reflections was that, although socialism continued being the objective, this would not neccesarily be achieved through the route of the Soviet Union.The closeness of Paz with the movement headed by André Bretón was consolidated when he arrived on a diplomatic mission to Paris at the end of 1945. However, the condemnation by Paz of the communist dictatorship does not signify applause for American imperialism, racism or the atomic bomb.