and i know you are friends with many writers around the world, including salman rushdie.ce to be heard on certain issues, does it make you become more careful about what you say and write? well, salman, salman rushdie is a great example of somebody who has spent the last 30 years defending the freedoms the rest of us take for granted and thriving. i think he is an example of, of courage and of resilience. erm, and it's. .. for me, it's a source, it's an inspiration and a source of admiration in many senses. and you will continue to write about your country from inside your country? i have never, except for one book, i haven't written a page of fiction that is not obsessively about my country, about trying to understand its violence and trying to explore it and illuminate it. and as a journalist, i only try to defend our right — our right to peace, to have a peaceful country. which is, you know, hopefully in the making, but not there immediately. juan gabriel vasquez, thank you very much forjoining me on hardtalk. it was a pleasure. thank you. hello there. we've got more s