This September 11 2023 marks 50 years since the terrible coup in Chile, replacing democratically elected progressive President Salvador Allende with CIA and ITT backed dictator General Pinochet. Assassinating Allende and torturing and killing hundreds and hundreds of other local activists, artists and social organizers, the new military government brought in the first Neo-liberal experiment by force, guided by their masters’ voice at the Chicago School of Economics. Well, barely anyone remembers the names of such fascist collaborators these days although they pop up continually in various hot and warm spots around the world. What we do remember are the names of those who resisted local tyranny and imperialist agendas to create a culture of resistance and hope, that the night of broken glass may yet become a dawn of hope.

Here I share my translation of one of Silvio Rodriguez’ (Cuba) homage to Chile during the breaking of her democratic and courageous government in September 1973.

Santiago De Chile
Silvio Rodríguez (Trans. Kaushalya Bannerji)

There I loved a terrible woman,
crying through the everlasting smoke
of that city, cornered by winter symbols.
There, I learned to remove cold skin
and throw my body into the drizzle
in the hands of hard white fog,
in the streets of enigma.

That is not dead.
They didn’t kill me.
Neither through distance,
Nor by the vile soldier.

There among the hills, I had friends
That , among the smoke bombs, were as brothers .
There I had more than four things that I have always wanted.
There our song became small,
Among the desperate crowd,
A powerful song of the earth broke over us.

That is not dead .
They didn’t kill me .
Neither through distance,
Nor with the vile soldier
Neither through distance,
Nor by the vile soldier

Even there, it followed me like a shadow
The face of him, who I no longer see
And death whispers in my ear that it will still come.
There I felt a hatred, ashamed by
Children beggared by dawn
And this desire to exchange each string for a bag of bullets…

That is not dead.
They didn’t kill me .
Neither through distance,
Nor with the vile soldier.
Neither through distance,
Nor with the vile soldier.

Santiago De Chile
Silvio Rodríguez

allí amé a una mujer terrible
llorando por el humo siempre eterno
de aquella ciudad acorralada
por símbolos de invierno

allí aprendí a quitar con piel el frío
y a echar luego mi cuerpo a la llovizna
en manos de la niebla dura y blanca
en calles del enigma

eso no esta muerto

no me lo mataron

ni con la distancia, ni con vil soldado×2

allí entre los cerros tuve amigos
que entre bombas de humo eran hermanos
ahi yo tuve mas de cuatro cosas que siempre he deseado
ahi nuestra canción se hizo pequeña
entre la multitud desesperada
un poderoso canto que canto de la tierra era quien más cantaba

eso no esta muerto
ni con la distancia,
ni con el vil soldado

Hasta allí me siguió como una sombra
El rostro del que ya no se veía
Y en el oído me susurro la muerte del que ya aparecería
Allí yo tuve un odio una vergüenza
Niños mendigos de la madrugada
Y el deseo de cambiar cada cuerda por un saco de balas