FILE - A Friday, Nov. 4, 1988 file photo of then Vice President of Nicaragua, Sergio Ramirez Mercado, at a press conference in Rome, at the end of his two day-visit to Rome and the Vatican. The Spanish government said Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017 that Nicaraguan author and former politician, Sergio Ramirez Mercado, has won the 2017 Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor. (AP Photo/Claudio Luffoli, File)