THE PARADOXES OF ARGENTINA

GREENE (GRAHAM, 1904-1991, novelist) and GELMAN (JUAN, Argentinian poet) DRAFT OF GREENE'S IMPORTANT LETTER ON THE SUBJECT OF 'THE PARADOXES OF ARGENTINA', addressed to The Independent and published on 24 September 1987 ('A painful reminder of Argentina's evil past'), comprising a long typed letter signed by Juan Gelman to Greene heavily reworked by Greene, with extensive revisions, deletions and additions throughout in his hand, reusing it as the first basis for his letter to the newspaper, containing details about Gelman's exile following death threats from the fascist sector of the Peronist movement; the abduction and murder of his son and daughter-in-law and the fate of his grandchild born in the concentration camp ('...Children born from prisoners in concentration camps were given to childless couples of military police or police members whose names were on a waiting list. Once the child was born, the mother was killed and the baby given away...I don't know where she or he is now. Nor with whom. Some persons think that my children were killed by the army because of my activities of dennounciation [sic] of the military dictatorship since the beginning of my exile in Europe...'); the circumstances making it impossible for him to return to Argentina ('...a judge, Dr. Miguel Guillermo Pons, had initiated in 1985 a procedure against him for "unlawful association"...and in february 1986 declared his "contumacy" because he had not appeared before the Court, though it was impossible for him to do so as he had no official information about the process until march this year...'); the facts of Gelman's 'antidictatorial' activities and his distancing of himself from the 'military guerrilla actions' of the Movimiento Peronista Montonero; and the paradox that he and his fellows are still condemned under the Alphonsin democratic government while through amnesties granted to murderers and torturers 'the killers of my children are walking freely in my city, whereas I'm banned to do so'; Gelman begs Graham Greene to lend his voice to his cause ('Your words, Mr Green [sic], have a great echo') and help him to return to Argentina ('...I must return to Argentina and I must return in freedom. I must inquire about the whereabouts of my grand children. I must intimately know the fate of my son and my daughter-in-law and, if possible, to get hold of what is left of them, to entomb them, to know there is a place where they are, to give an end to this inexpressable [sic] nightmare (the mare of the night) of their "disappearance"...'); he also refers to the interest Greene has always shown towards Latin America, particularly Argentina and especially in signing the petition about 'the killing of the great Argentinian writer Rodolfo Walsh in 1977', 3 pages, folio, Gelman's letter to Greene addressed from Geneva, 21 August 1987

A major letter by Juan Gelman (parts of which did not appear in Greene's version) reused by Graham Greene in a cause of political freedom, one of his central and life-long concerns, particularly in relation to South America, which produced in this case an interesting example of one of Greene's working methods.

Greene's letter to The Independent (a copy of which is included) was successful and on 23 January 1988, mentioning its effectiveness, the newspaper could report that 'The man hailed as Argentina's greatest living poet, Juan Gelman, returned to Buenos Aires yesterday after an exile of almost 13 years.' The article explains the dilemma he had found himself in: 'Instead of being free to return, he became a victim of President Alphonsin's doctrine of "the balance of terror": the view that both the Montoneros and the military dictatorship were equally responsible for the "dirty war" and must be equally punished. Mr Gelman was cited as a Montonero leader, even though he was never part of the military leadership, and had publicly denounced the movement in 1979.'

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