[Franco] "The revolution of 1931 was artificial. Zamora ... promised a republic of priests and monks. But the republicans cannot make a bourgeois revolution. Their masses want a red revolution," the general said.Garzón, via his sources, renders it thus:
"In the name of liberty there was frightful license. The constitution was a unilateral affair. Half of Spain was persecuted."
[Allen] "Then no truce, no compromise is possible?"
"No. No, decidedly, no. We are fighting for Spain. They are fighting against Spain. We will go on at whatever cost."
"You will have to shoot half of Spain," I said.
He shook his head, smiled and then looking at me steadily: "I said whatever the cost."
- “Nosotros luchamos por España. Ellos luchan contra España. Estamos resueltos a seguir adelante a cualquier precio.” (Citado por Secundino Serrano en “Génesis del Conflicto: La represión de los huidos. Dentro del libro Federación Guerrillera de León-Galicia. El último Frente. Resistencia Armada Antifranquista en España 1939-1952”, de José Arostegui y Jorge Marco (Eds). Editorial Catarata, 2008.)Escolar writes that from this
- Allen: “Tendrá que matar a media España”, dije.
Entonces giró la cabeza, sonrió y mirándome firmemente dijo:
- “He dicho que al precio que sea”.
Es decir –afirma Allen- que “estaba dispuesto a acabar con la mitad de los españoles si ello era necesario para pacificar el país”. (Santos Juliá. Víctimas de la Guerra Civil, Madrid, Temas de Hoy. 1999. Página 25.)
it is clear that the translation quoted by Garzón is pretty reasonable. Like all translations, it is open to nuance. You can argue about whether ... "You will have to shoot half of Spain" would [have been more accurate than] "kill half of Spain." But I don't think that that changes the meaning of the sentences much.However, by pointing out a minor error Escolar distracts our attention from three important distortions, the second of which confirms the Falange's claims of mistranslation and the first and third of which suggest a straightforward intention to mislead.
We have formed an organization known as the Organization of Afro-American Unity which has the same aim and objective to fight whoever gets in our way, to bring about the complete independence of people of African descent here in the Western Hemisphere, and first here in the United States, and bring about the freedom of these people by any means necessary. That's our motto. We want freedom by any means necessary. We want justice by any means necessary. We want equality by any means necessary.You may suspect the worst, but there's nothing in there that will hang him in a decent court.
Labels: Baltasar Garzón, Ignacio Escolar