By Sean Magill and Maureen Baker
Juan Garrido, a dedicated and talented poet and political activist, has released his first collection of poetry in Australia, Twenty Years on the Rollcall of the Marginalised, in celebration of his 20 years of writing poetry. Each poem is printed in English and Spanish.
Juan began writing poetry in 1976, when he also became involved in the political struggle in Chile. Like many others, he experienced the grief of having friends and relatives murdered by Pinochet's military dictatorship.
After travelling overseas, Juan returned to political activity in Chile and became involved in organising student protests, strikes and pickets in the struggle against the regime. Of that time he says, "Sometimes it was really difficult to write poetry but all of the time the poetry was inside of me ... poetry and struggle for me were never divided and ... when I organised some activity underground or public demonstration, the poetry was present."
He was influenced by Chilean poet and diplomat Pablo Neruda. He was particularly inspired by Neruda's poetry on the Spanish Civil War. He was also inspired by Victor and Joan Jara and Salvador Allende. Quene Arrieta, who continued to run a progressive theatre academy despite the oppressive regime, was another early influence.
After experiencing torture and imprisonment, Juan eventually came to Australia. Settling in Adelaide, he became involved in solidarity struggles, especially in support of the indigenous people of Australia. He says "My concern is people in struggle. I don't miss the [Chilean] struggle in general terms, because I am still in struggle and solidarity with my people, and with Aboriginal people and people around the world."
Since coming to Australia, he has been inspired by the writings of Aboriginal poets Kath Walker and Robert Walker, a deaths in custody victim. Juan's next project is the translation into Spanish of Robert Walker's book, Up, Not Down Mate.
In Adelaide, Juan is deeply involved with the Romero Community, named after the murdered archbishop of El Salvador. The community works with projects supporting solidarity struggles in Australia and worldwide.
In the prologue to his book, Juan says his poetry "continues the same song which was born 20 years ago amidst the struggle of his people fighting the fascism of Pinochet with courage and dignity, struggling to build a road to social justice".
Juan expressed concern that "most official international solidarity organisations don't recognise political prisoners in Chile, because they are in favour of the new democratic government". He went on to say that there is not a genuine democracy in Chile "because they are still under Pinochet's rule, still under the constitution where many thousands of Chilean people suffer".
These poems are an inspirational and moving tribute to political prisoners, to people who suffer under oppression and to people who struggle to bring about change. Juan says he is grateful for the support of people who read his book and support his poetry. Twenty Years on the Rollcall of the Marginalised is available through Resistance Bookshops and most major bookstores in Adelaide.