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acería de Sandino

The Hunt for Sandino

Gabriela Mistral

Gabriela M istral na ció hace cien años; la Revolución

a triunfó hace diez. Como un homenaje a ambas,

se complace en reproducir este texto de la poeta

del Premio N obel de Literatura en 1945.

por cierto, no es la Gabriela Mistral que se nos ha

en el pasado. La única Gabriela que conocimos

fue la que habló de sentimientos personales, niños y

osofía existencial de la vida. En América Latina nos

a la Gabriela política por décadas. Afortunada-

ha comenzado a emerger.

i

i s t er Hoover ha declarado a Sandino " fuera de l a l ey" .

Los desgraciados po l í t i cos

se asuste n hoy de la ca den a de ,

La f rase cocedora de Mr.

j a a l a j aur ía . Es

erosa l a j aur ía es ta vez has ta

fan tás t i ca : sobre unas lomas

d e ae ro p l an o s . T am b i én

"Ta ntos mi les de pesos

Lás t ima grande que l a cabeza

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of

Gabriela Mistral, C hilean poet and Nobel P rize winner in

1945. The Sandinista revolution also celebrated its tenth an-

niversary this summ er. As a tribute to both, Aquelarre is

pleased to reprint a text written by Mistral in 1931, about

Sandino and the U.S. intervention in Nicaragua. It reveals a

hidden side of Gabriela: she who only spoke of personal

feelings, of children and of an existential philosophy of life,

comes through here as a passionate political observer.

S a n d i n o h as b een d ec l a r ed an " o u t l a w " b y M r . H o o v e r . I t

can only be understood from this that the United States has

forgot ten the concept o f in ternat ional l aw and cons iders

Nicarag uan t er r i to ry to be it s ow n. W hi le Mr. Hoove r seems

to be refer r ing to one of h i s fe l low c ount ry men , what i s

rea l ly mea nt here is : "Ou ts ide of U.S. l aw ."

The wretched Nicaraguan po l i t i c i ans who begged for

Nor th American ass i s t ance in the i r

f igh t agains t Sandino perhaps d id

not have the imaginat ion to foresee

the consequences of such a reques t .

They may be f r igh tened today by

the s t r ing of r ights they have

granted the outsider and by the

lands l ide of concess ions they have

made wi thout an af t er thought .

M r . H o o v e r ' s s ca t h i n g p ro -

nouncement i s ak in to the ra l ly ing

cry at the s tart of the hunt ing

season , u rg ing the pac k to go af t er

i ts prey; however, this pack is of

phenomenal p ropor t ions , f ive

thousand men and dozens of p lanes

to be dep loye d ove r a few hi l ls . I t

a l so evok es the no l ess p r imi t ive

universa l p rac t i ce of p r i ze-hunt ing :

" So m u ch p e r h ead . "

I ron ica l ly , the muddied head

of Sandino , th i s b lacksmi th

label l ed "bandido" by the yankee

media , i s a l so one being anxious ly

fo l lowed by an en t i re cont inen t o f

men and women; in Europe, he i s

being hai l ed as a born hero and

messenger o f p rov idence by those

who do no t have a fear o f words .

Our b lacksmi th bears more

resemblance to Hercu les than to

the hel l ish Pluto imagined by Mr.

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El herrero se parece más a Hércu les que a l Plu tón

ve Mr. Hoo ver . Enlo dad o corre por l as cuchi -

bra; car ga las dos o t res pis tolas qu e le dan las foto-

reg ión l e son des lea les ; y su defe nsa tom a

De sde los años 1810 , o sea desde e l a luv ión guerrero

s h as t a Ch i le , r o m p i én d o l o

Mr. Hoover , mal in formado a pesar de sus vein t iún

a j ad as , n o s ab e q u e e l h o m b rec i t o S an d i n o , m o ru n o ,

Si lo sup iese , a pesar de l a impe rme abi l idad a l a

El guerr i l l e ro no es e l minera l s imple que é l ve y que l e

b an d i d o q u í m i cam en t e p u ro ; n o e s u n p as m o

to de Salgar i . Ha conven cido desde l a p rens a f rances a y

aprec io espa ñol has ta e l ú l t imo escr i to r suda me r icano que

Tal vez ca iga ahora esa cabeza s in peinar que t rae locas

cab ezas acep i l l ada s de los mar in os ocupante s ; t a l vez sea

la ú l t ima en e l mi - l l ar de l as juga das y pérd idas

invasor . Ya no se t ra ta de una búsqued a s ino de una

Pero los mar inos de Mr. Hoover van a recoger en sus

u mu ñón . Mala mi rad a vamo s a echar les y un vo to

os baj i to o fuer te que no hemo s d icho nunca has ta

s ean "

Porque l a iden t i f i cac ión ya comienza y a l a muer te de

d ino se hará de un go lpe qued ándo se en e l b loque. E l

re los , nues t ro Carre ra y nues t ro Ar t igas . La faena es

el t ranc e es el mism o.

Nos hará v iv i r Mr. Hoover , eso s í , una sensación de

t inen ta l no pro bada n i en 1810 por l a guerra d e l a

Mr. Hoov er va a conse gui r , s in buscar lo , a lgo que

os no hab íamos logrado; sen t i rnos uno de

by: Margo t Lacroix

Hoo ver . His so il ed shadow can be seen meander ing l ike a

snake around the swamps of Nicaragua; he car r i es the two or

three guns made famous by photographs of the New York

mag azines , chase d by fore igne rs and fe l low coun t rymen

al ike , d i s t rus t fu l o f every t ree and rock . Ho w can one no t

appear insane , under such condi t ions , when the s t ruggle for

se l f -preservat ion i s so in tense , when there seems to be

noth ing e l se surrounding you bu t a b loodbath .

Our peoples had no t l ived th rough such t imes and wi th

such fee l ings of expecta t ion s ince the 1810s , when the

f loodt ide of war descended f rom Mexico and Caracas a l l the

way to Chile, destroying everything in i ts wake for the sole

purpose of sav ing one s ing le th ing .

Mr. Hoover i s mis informed, in sp i t e o f h i s many embas-

sies; he does not know that Sandino, this small , dark man, a

co m m o n er an d a g o o d - fo r -n o t h i n g , h as m an ag ed t o cap tu re

the admirat ion of an ent i re race, with the except ion of a few

po or soul less t rai tors here and there in the Sou th. If he did,

he would mo ve qu ick ly to kno ck dow n th i s ins ign i f i can t

p iece of mi l i t a ry hardware , desp i t e the so-cal l ed impermea-

b i l i ty o f the Whi te House to publ ic op in ion ; he would a t

least be caut ious, and put a s top to the second invasion.

Sandino the guer i l l e ro does no t conform to the typ ica l

portra i t of the ban di t pain ted by Mr . Ho ov er. He is not a

mil i tary wonder in the s tyle of Pancho Vil la, ful l of desire to

k i l l , d runk wi th misd eed , an execu t ioner . San dino has

succeeded in winning over the French media ; he has gained

the sympa thy of the Span iards . He has ma de every S outh

American wri t er awai t anx ious ly the cab le announcing tha t

he is still alive.

It may be that this t ime, this disheveled head which has

been dr iv ing the wel l -groomed heads of the Mar ines crazy

wil l fal l . I t wil l perhaps be the last of thousands of moves

and losses on the part of the inva der s . Th e search for

Sandino has tu rned in to a hunt .

In th i s t rophy so sought af t er by M r. Hoo ver ' s Mar ines

we wil l not fai l to recognize our own blood; we wil l feel the

shock of the amputee watch ing h i s own l imb fa l l . We wi l l

p ron ounc e in low o r h igh vo ice a curse never invoked un t il

now, no t even af t er San to Domingo and Hai t i (1 ) : "Let them

b e d am n ed "

Sandino has been unmis tak ing ly acknowledged as one

of our own, and h i s death wi l l on ly conf i rm h i s consecra t ion

as a hero , a long wi th Paez , Morelos , Carrera and Art igas (2) .

The h i s to r ica l t ask a t hand has no t changed; the moment i s

as crucial as ever.

Mr. Hoover wi l l have crea ted , no l ess , a fee l ing of

cont inen ta l un i ty unsurpas sed bef ore , even dur ing the 1810

W ar of Indep ende nce . W e are no t deal ing here wi th a mere

local hero, al though his terri tory may seem l imited to a

square k i lometer o f ru ra l l and . Mr. Hoo ver wi l l he lp us

ach ieve , in sp i t e o f h imsel f , someth ing we had no t been ab le

to do ourselve s: to feel one and indivisib le, from one end of

the cont inent to the other, because of the death of Augusto

Sandino .

New York, 1931

(1) Mistral is referring to U.S. prior invasions to these

count r i es .

(2 ) Heroes of the Lat in American Independence War .

Original in Spanish) printed in Chile by the Alejandro

Lipschutz Institute in 1989.

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