Pablo Neruda -Aquel hombre-

Aquel hombre

Después Sandino atravesó la selva
y desempeño su pólvora sagrada
contra marinerías bandoleras
en Nueva York crecidas y pegadas:
ardió la tierra, resonó el follaje,
el yanqui no esperó lo que pasaba,
se vestía muy bien para la guerra
brillaban sus zapatos y sus armas
pero por experiencia supo pronto
quienes eran Sandino y Nicaragua.

Todo era tumba de ladrones rubios,
el aire, el árbol, el camino, el agua,
surgían guerrilleros de Sandino
hasta el whisky que se destapaban
y enfermaban de muerte repentina
los gloriosos guerrreros de Luisiana
acostumbrados a colgar los negros
mostrando valentía sobrehumana:
dos mil encapuchados ocupados
en un negro, una soga y una rama;
aquí eran diferentes los negocios,

Sandino acometía y esperaba,
Sandino era la noche que venía
y era la luz del mar que los mataba.
Sandino era una torre de banderas,
Sandino era un fusil con esperanzas.
eran muy diferentes las lecciones,
en West Point era la limpia la enseñanza,
nunca les enseñaron en la escuela
que podría morir el que mataba
los norteamericanos no aprendieron
que amamos nuestra pobre tierra amada
y que defenderemos las banderas
que con dolor y amor creadas,
si no aprendieron ésto en Filadelfia
lo supieron con sangre en Nicaragua
allí esperaba el capitán del pueblo:
Augusto C. Sandino se llamaba
para que nos dé luz y nos dé fuego
en la continuación de sus batallas.


That friend

Later Sandino crossed the jungle,
he unloaded his sacred gunpowder
against assaulting sailors
grown and paid for in New York:
the earth burned, the foliage resounded:
the Yankee did not expect what was happening:
he dressed very well for war
shining shoes and weapons
but through experience he soon learned
who Sandino and Nicaragua were:

it was a tomb of blond thieves:
air, tree, road, water
Sandino' s guerrillas came forth
even from the whiskey that was opened,
which sickened with quick death
the glorious Louisiana fighters
accustomed to hanging blacks
with superhuman valor:
two thousand hooded men busy
with one black man, a rope and a tree.
Affairs were different here:

Sandino attacked and waited,
Sandino was the coming night,
he was the light from the sea that killed.
Sandino was a tower with flags,
Sandino was a rifle with hopes.
These were very different lessons,
at West Point learning was clean:
they were never taught at school
that he who kills could also die:
the North Americans did not learn
that we love our sad beloved land
and that we will defend the flags
that with pain and love were created.
If they did not learn this in Philadelphia
they found it out through blood in Nicaragua:
the captain of the people waited there:
Augusto C. Sandino he was called.
And in this song his name will remain
full of wonder like a sudden blaze
so that it can give us light and fire
in the continuation of his battles.