Mexico City ( CNN ) -- Mexican author Carlos Fuentes , a prolific writer known for his novels and political commentary , died Tuesday . He was 83 . Fuentes had a massive hemorrhage overnight , said Dr. Arturo Ballesteros , his doctor . He died Tuesday afternoon , hours after arriving at the hospital . `` I deeply regret the passing of our beloved and admired Carlos Fuentes , writer and universal Mexican . May he rest in peace , '' Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a Twitter post . Mexico 's national arts council described Fuentes as `` one of the most prolific and recognized Mexican authors in the world . '' He won numerous literary awards throughout his career , including the Cervantes Prize . On Monday , Spain 's University of the Balearic Islands awarded him an honorary doctorate for his literary work . Fuentes , the son of a diplomat , was born in Panama and spent parts of his childhood in Argentina , Chile , Brazil and the United States . As he received the Cervantes Prize in 1987 , he described Mexico as `` the country of my blood and also of my imagination . '' His first novels , which included `` The Most Transparent Region '' in 1959 and `` The Death of Artemio Cruz '' in 1962 , made him one of the most important figures of the so-called Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s . His 1985 novel `` Old Gringo '' was a bestseller in the United States . It became a movie in 1989 starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda . `` Carlos ' influence on literature goes far beyond borders of Latin America , and the impact of his intellect and activism will not be forgotten , '' said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa , who presented Fuentes with a key to the city in 2006 . In a recent interview with Spain 's El Pais newspaper , the author discussed his plans to write a new book . `` My technique for staying young is working a lot , and always having a pending project . Now I 've finished a book , 'Federico on His Balcony , ' but now I have a new one , 'The Dance of the Centenarian , ' that I start to write Monday in Mexico , '' Fuentes said in the interview , which was published this week . Fuentes , a former ambassador to France who became known as much for his political commentary as his literary prowess , regularly wrote columns for the Spanish newspaper and the Mexico daily Reforma . On Tuesday , Reforma published a column by Fuentes titled `` Long live socialism . But ... '' analyzing the recent election of Francois Hollande to France 's presidency . At the Buenos Aires Book Fair earlier this month , Fuentes spoke of the problem of drug trafficking in Latin America and criticized the candidates running for president in Mexico this year . `` What alarms me enormously this year ... is that I see problems here , and the candidates there , '' Fuentes told CNN en EspaÃ±ol 's Carmen Aristegui in January . People we 've lost in 2012 : The lives they lived . CNN 's Krupskaia Alis , Rey Rodriguez , Rafael Romo , Luis Arce and CNNMexico.com contributed to this report .
NEW : Fuentes ' doctor says the author suffered a massive hemorrhage before he died . NEW : Los Angeles mayor : `` The impact of his intellect and activism will not be forgotten '' Calderon : `` I deeply regret the passing of our beloved and admired Carlos Fuentes '' The Mexican author won numerous literary awards .