SocialistStories حكايات اشتراكية

Ultraleftists
by Roque Dalton

The pipiles
who didn't understand the cross and more advanced culture
and didn't want to bow down before the Crown of Spain
and rose up in the mountains
with weapons in their hands
against the conquistador.

Those who nourished the flame
of native rebellion for 300 colonial years
and died hunted in the mountains or by the
vile garrot or on the gallows
and refused to peaceably co-exist with the feudal lord
in the bosom of estates and land allotments.

Pedro Pablo Castillo and the communards of 1814

Statistics on Freedom
by Roque Dalton

Freedom of the press for Salvadoran people
costs 20 centavos a day
counting only those who can read
and have more than 20 centavos left over
after eating barely enough to stay alive.

Freedom of the press for the big
industrial merchants and publicists
sells for thousands and change for a black and white page
and I don't know how much for a square inch
of text or illustration.

Freedom of the press
for Don Napoleon Viera Altamirano
and Dutriz and Pinto and the owners of El Mundo
is worth millions: