Saturday, March 6, 2010

Ricardo Brown's latest blog entry Don't die, Guillermo Fariñas, abandon your hunger strike is powerful


If you read Spanish and even if you don't just use the google translator Ricardo Brown has just written a powerful entry titled No mueras, Guillermo Fariñas. Abandona tu huelga de hambre [Don't die, Guillermo Fariñas , abandon your hunger strike] that is a must read. I reproduce a part of it here in the original spanish and with a loose translation below each line:

A los cubanos nos hacía falta que Martí hubiera vivido más,

The Cubans needed for [Jose] Marti to have lived longer

Por la poesía que hubiera escrito.

For the poetry he would have written

Por la sabiduria, la humanidad, de sus ensayos.

For the wisdom, and humanity of his essays.

De sus discursos.

for his speeches.

Quizás le hubieramos prestado más atención.

Perhaps we would have paid him more attention.

Hubiéramos aprendido que no es necesario odiar.

We would have learned that it is not necessary to hate

Que hace daño odiar.

That hate causes damage.

Que hay que amar.

That you have to love.

Que se puede luchar sin odiar.

That you can struggle without hate.

Que se debe luchar amando.

That you should struggle while loving.

Que no se construye una Patria odiando.

That a Nation is not built hating.

Que no se construye un futuro odiando.

That one does not build a future hating.

Que hay que amar.

That one has to love

Yo pienso que hay que rechazar lo injusto.

I think that which is unjust must be rejected

Hay que denunciarlo.

It has to be denounced.

Hay que combatirlo.

It has to be battled against

Pero que sobre todas las cosas, hay que hacerlo sin odio.

But above all things, you have to do it without hate

Lo repito.

Let me repeat this.

No soy nadie.

I am no one.

Pero amo la vida.

But I love life.

Amo mi vida.

I love my life.

Me duele que Martí murió tan temprano.

It pains me that [Jose] Martí died so early.

Me duele aquella muerte de Pedro Luis.

That death of Pedro Luis [Boitel] pains me

Me duele que murió Orlando.

It hurts me that Orlando [Zapata Tamayo] died

Y no quiero que muera Guillermo.

I don't want Guillermo to die.

Sé que no me va a escuchar.

I know that he is not going to listen to me.

Sé que si me escuchara no me haría caso.

I know that if he listened to me he would not take my advice.

Pero lo tengo que decir.

But what I have to say

No mueras, Guillermo.

Don't die, Guillermo

Sinceramente, no mueras por mi ni por mi familia.

Sincerely, don't die for me or for my family.

A final de cuenta, la familia y la Patria son lo mismo.

At the end of the day, the family and the nation are the same.

No mueras, Guillermo, por mis abuelos ni por mis hijos.

Don't die, Guillermo, neither for my grandparents nor my children.

Yo te prefiero vivo.

I prefer you alive.

Nos haces más falta vivo.

You are more important to us alive.

I highly recommend reading the full blog entry. It is powerful, and something every Cuban should read.

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