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"We must listen to the desert" |
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By Alicia Sánchez*
SANTIAGO - "The desert is sending a strong
message about the environment because it is advancing towards the
south, it is devouring all that is green," said Chilean author
Hernán Rivera Letelier, whose novels about the Pampa, in
the country's extreme north, report brisk sales in Europe.
The author of "Queen Isabel Sang Rancheras"
and "Santa María of the Black Flowers" announces
a change of scenery for the new book he is working on. From the
desert -- his home, source of inspiration, and backdrop to all of
his stories -- he is heading to the cities.
He will also leave behind the offices of the
saltpeter works, or "salitreras", as the towns that sprung
up in the desert in the late 19th century -- the golden era of saltpeter
exploitation -- are known.
A northern miner until the publication of his
first book, and ordained a "chevalier" of arts and letters
by France's Ministry of Culture, Rivera Letelier spoke in an exclusive
dialogue with Tierramérica.
Q: Your characters are always fighting
for something. If you had to choose two of them from your novels
to defend nature, who would they be?
A: It would be Golondrina del Rosario, who fought so that they would
plant a tree or create a plaza in the town. Also Alma Basilia, the
prostitute in "The Trains to Purgatory", because she came
at it from a different perspective. The conquest of the desert would
not have been possible without the contribution of the prostitutes.
Q: Two women… Do you think women
are more concerned about the preservation of the environment?
A: Women have always been the driving force in the world, in the
order of all things.
Q: You have said that the desert forces
us to focus on ourselves, to listen to ourselves. What message is
the desert sending today?
A: The desert is always sending a strong message about the environment:
"If you don't take care of the planet, soon it will all end
up like me," because the desert is advancing towards the south,
it is devouring all things green. It is crossing the border of the
Atacama. The Chilean environmentalists have a very big responsibility
because they must preserve a cultural heritage that is unique to
this country, the saltpeter mines. I make an appeal to the environmentalists
of the world, because this is the only part of the planet where
these exist. If they are not preserved, they are going to disappear.
Q: Do the local "Pampinos"
take care of this heritage?
A: They are all linked to the saltpeter works. Every once in a while
they celebrate anniversaries of the mines and thousands of people
show up. They bring music and eat by what used to be their homes.
We Pampinos are being left without roots because the place where
we were born has been destroyed. We get married and we bury our
dead. The Pampinos initially fought the desert, and then they humanized
it, gave it life. Now we are fighting to make the desert flower
and to maintain our memories, history, keep it green.
Q: What type of books do you recommend
to decontaminate yourself?
A: The only ones I don't recommend are the self-help books, because
you end up more contaminated than you were before you read it.
* Alicia Sánchez is an IPS contributor.
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