Emilia

'Emilia Olivera, a real and humble woman, a native of the Central American country of Belize, becomes, thanks to Víctor
Manuel Durán’s literary talent, the true embodiment of the Belizean woman, a proud unbreakable spirit, a demanding
mother and a loyal companion, who was able, with grace and determination, to face both joyful events and harsh tragedies
during her long life in Progreso, a village in the Corozal District in the country of Belize.
Emilia, mother of Víctor Manuel Durán and seven other children, reaches, through her enduring and
endearing existence, the symbolic status of mother of her young and noble homeland, Belize. Beloved by family members and
relatives, who cheered her till a few weeks from her one hundred and second birthday, admired by her fellow citizens,
she earned the right to rest in peace in the small cemetery of the village of Progreso. Her soul, though, will inhabit forever the
wooded banks of the large and beautiful fresh-water lagoon she enjoyed so much throughout her life.'
Alain Saint-Saëns, literary critic, Professor of Latin American Studies, Universidad del Norte (Paraguay), Corresponding Member of the Academy of Letters, Bahia, Brazil.