Discurso de Gervasio Sánchez (Gervasio Sánchez Speech)

One of the things that I often do in my (currently abundant) spare time is translate poems, short stories, articles, or chapters of books that I find particularly interesting or worthwhile. I generally choose things that don’t already have an accessible English translation. I just do this for practice, but if anyone reading this wants to pay me to do this please do not hesitate to contact me.

A friend recently sent me a Power Point that had been circulating among Spaniards on the web for several months. The presentation introduces Gervasio Sánchez, a photojournalist who was awarded the prestigious Ortega y Gasset Prize by the newspaper El País in May 2008. The winning photo comes from Sánchez’s project entitled “Vidas Minadas” or “Mined Lives.” Below is the original Spanish version as well as the English translation.

Sánchez’s photos are stunning. It’s extraordinary that he has been able to capture these people at such different stages in their lives. Beyond that, his mission is noble. I haven’t conducted a serious investigation into his claims about Spanish arms sales, but it doesn’t seem far-fetched and anyway my instinct is to side with the hippie photo-journalist who’s trying to shake things up. I do know that the United States never signed the Ottawa Treaty, an international ban on anti-personnel landmines (the kind meant for people as opposed to the kind meant for tanks) which most European countries adopted in 1997. The U.S. wanted an exception for the landmine barrier system along the border between North and South Korea, supposedly protecting the South from a Northern invasion. But the Veterans for America are among the organizations calling shenanigans. In unsurprising NGO fashion, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines suggests we help by staying informed, spreading the word, donating money, or going to work for them. They have a very cool internship opportunity at their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, although it’s unpaid. Really seems to me like a legit cause.

Legacy?

I have real beef with Bush-defenders citing the fact that “he kept us safe” after September 11 as some great legacy that will shine through all the criticism years from now when history is judge. We may not have had another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, but say that to residents of Istanbul, Madrid, London, and Mumbai and you’re likely to to get a nasty retort. With good reason. All of these cities have been attacked by Islamic extremists since 9/11. While we can pat our own intelligence community on the back, your worldview has to be pretty myopic not to have read at least one of the hundreds of articles and books examining the way the invasion of Iraq has actually strengthened terror networks all over the globe.