SECTION FOURTEEN
EMAIL PAGE FIVE 

sm
COLUMN EIGHTY, DECEMBER 1, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 The Blacklisted Journalist)

WHERE IS MARÍA CLAUDIA GARCÍA IRURETA GOYENA DE GELMAN?

Subject: Solidarity with the Argentine poet Juan Gelman.
Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 08:29:41 -0500
From: "Fernando Rendon" <fearn@epm.net.co> 
To: <blackj@bigmagic.com> 

Medellín, October 10/2002/

Dear Al,

The Argentine poet Juan Gelman has readers throughout the world who admire his work and who have witnessed his extraordinary, humane efforts on a personal and collective level to obtain information that will
clarify the fate of those who disappeared in the Southern Cone countries during the period of the military dictatorships. Two years ago, his battle to achieve justice with regard to their names, their works and their lives
resulted in the recovery of his granddaughter, who was ripped from the arms of her mother, María Claudia García Irureta Goyena de Gelman, just days after she was born in 1976 by the criminals who were engaged in
carrying out the infamous Condor Plan. 

Despite the happy news concerning the appearance of his granddaughter, which was in part the result of an international campaign supported by poets, writers and intellectuals from more than 100 countries, the
whereabouts of Gelman’s daughter-in-law are still unknown. 

The time has come to begin a new international campaign with writers, poets, artists and friends from all over the world to get Dr. Jorge Batlle Ibáñez, President of Uruguay, to respond to Juan Gelman’s just and
insistent question. 

We invite you to sign the attached letter to express your solidarity with this cause and then to circulate this letter electronically among your friends until we achieve the justice we seek.

With fraternal greetings,

Fernando Rendón
Tobias Burghardt 

OPEN LETTER TO DR. JORGE LUIS BATLLE IBÁÑEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF URUGUAY
Medellín (Colombia) and Stuttgart (Germany), October 9, 2002.

Mr. President: 

The majority of the poets, writers and artists who have signed this letter below have already had the honor of communicating with you on March 21, 2000 to ask you to support the efforts of Juan Gelman to find his
granddaughter and reveal the fate of his daughter-in-law María Claudia García Irureta Goyena de Gelman, who disappeared in Uruguay. The first concern has been resolved and you should be commended for confirming it. Nevertheless, despite the fact that more than 2 ½ years have passed, we still have not received an answer to our request that the fate of María Claudia be thoroughly investigated.

We reiterate our urgent and total support of the need to clarify the whereabouts of María Claudia and to find her remains so that she can be buried with human dignity. Each and every person who disappeared
wanders through the void and seeks a place to rest in peace. No one can deny any human being this inalienable right. Mr. President, it is your honorable duty and within your power to facilitate all the knowledge at
your disposal to reaffirm this right with conviction. As you know, María Claudia is the daughter-in-law of the celebrated Argentine poet Juan Gelman, one of the greatest contemporary writers in the Spanish
language. 

The infamous case of María Claudia has achieved international notoriety: in August, 1976, she was kidnapped in Buenos Aires with her husband Marcelo Ariel Gelman by the Argentine military dictatorship. In October of
that year, 8 ½ months pregnant, she was taken to Montevideo by the Uruguayan military and imprisoned in a clandestine detention center in a building used by the Service of Defense Information (known by its
acronym in Spanish SID) in Montevideo. At the beginning of 1977, after her baby was stolen from her, she was murdered by an identified member of the Metropolitan Police of Uruguay.

Mr. President, we know that in your capacity as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Uruguay you are permitted by the Constitution to ascertain what some members of the military and police of your country
have been desperately trying to hide for more than ¼ of a century. Above all, we are familiar with your honorable family antecedents and your concern with regard to closing the wounds in Uruguayan society that
remain open. Again, we respectfully appeal to you follow through on our petition so that the remains of Juan Gelman’s daughter-in-law, who disappeared in your country, can be given a civilized burial.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow form a single body: the body of men and women throughout the centuries. Art and poetry are proof of this fundamental ideal. For this reason, we, poets and writers from all over the
world, hope that you, Mr. President, do whatever is necessary to accomplish what we are asking of you.

We await your reply, Mr. President, and send you our respect and best wishes.

We, the undersigned, affirm our support for this petition: 

María Rosa Lojo, poet; Mario Sampaolessi, poet; Susana Cella, poet and narrator; Daniel Freidemberg, poet; Daniel Samoilovich, poet and director of the Diario de Poesía; César Bisso, poet; Alejandro Schmidt, poet;
Manuel Ruano, poet and director of the poetry magazine Quevedo; Daniel Chirom, poet and editor; Rogelio Ramos Signes, writer; Ketty Alejandrina Lis, poet; Mirta Rosemberg, poet and translator; Leopoldo Castilla, poet; Kato Molinari, poet; Jorge Ariel Madrazo, poet and journalist; Reynaldo Sietecase, poet; Florencia Abbate, poet y essayist; Oscar A. Agú, poet; Tulio Galantini and Liliana Campazzo, Society of Poets of the End of the World; Carlos Barbarito, poet; Javier Cófreces, poet-editor; Héctor A. Piccoli, poet, translator and university teacher (Argentina); Corall Hull, poet; Lauren Williams, poet; Dorothy Porter, poet (Australia); Bernhard Widder, poet and translator (Austria); Aminur Rahman, poet, writer and critic (Bangladesh); Ferreira Gullar, poet and university teacher; Cláudia Ahimsa, poet; Anibal Beça, poet and compositor; Humberto Mello, poet and director of The International Poetry Festival of Rio de Janeiro; Gloria Rodriguez, translator; Moacir Werneck de Castro, journalist and writer; Jair Krischke, activist for the human rights and president of the Movement of Justice ans Human Rigths (Brazil); Paul Dakeyó, poet and editor (Cameroon); Louise Warren, poet (Canada); Vito Apshana, poet –Wayuu Nation-; Guillermo González Uribe, writer and director of the magazine Número; William Ospina, poet and essayist; Renata Durán, poet and writer; Gabriel Jaime Franco, poet; Javier Naranjo, poet; Rafael Patiño, poet; Jairo Guzmán, poet; Luis Eduardo Rendón, poet; Gloria Chvatal, painter; Rafael Quiroz, painter; Maruja Vieira, poet; Nicolás Suescún, poet and translator; Gabriel Jaime Caro, poet and editor; Neftalí Sandoval, poet and writer; Federico Díaz Granados, poet; Carlos Jiménez, writer and university teacher; Winston Morales, poet; Melina Pezzotti Escobar, poet; Laureano Alba, poet; Nelson Romero, poet; María Eugenia Vázquez Perdomo, writer; Piedad Bonnett, writer; Gloria Guardia de Alfaro, writer; Yorlady Ruiz López, poet (Colombia), Osvaldo Sauma, poet; Luis Chaves, poet and editor; Ricardo Ulloa Garay, poet (Costa Rica); Roberto Fernández Retamar, poet and essayist; Pablo Armando Fernández, poet and writer; Nancy Morejón, poet and essayist; Norberto Codina, poet and editor; Reina María Rodríguez, poet and writer; Luisa Campuzano, critic and editor; Luis Toledo Sande, essayist and critic; Jorge Fornet, essayist and critic; Lesbia Vent Dumois, painter; Vivian Martínez Tabares, actress and essayist; Arturo Arango, writer; Rogelio Rodríguez Coronel, essayist and literary critic; Víctor Rodríguez Núñez, poet and university teacher; Alex Fleites, poet; Isabel Espinosa, composer; Reynaldo García Blanco, poet; José Kozer, poet; Julio Travieso Serrano, writer; Efraín Rodríguez Santana, poet (Cuba); Abdourahman A. Waberi, writer (Djibouti); Volodia Teitelboim, writer; Elikura Chihuailaf, poet –Mapuche Nation-; Eduardo
Llanos, poet; Omar Lara, poet, translator and co-director of the magazine Trilce; Mauricio Otero, poet; Sergio Mansilla Torres, poet, teacher of Literature; Sergio Badilla Castillo, poet, university teacher; Alonso Azócar Avendaño, university teacher; Josefa Ruiz-Tagle Espinosa; Cecilia Valdés, poet (Chile); Cai Tian Xin, poet (China); Federico Hernández Aguilar, poet and writer; Otoniel Guevara, poet and editor; Mario Noel Rodríguez, poet and cultural promoter; Nora Mendez, poet singer and author (El Salvador); Antonio Colinas, poet; Luis García Montero, poet; Manuel Moya, poet; María Novo, poet plastic artist; Manuela Temporelli, Coordinator and director of the Tertulia Poética del Ateneo 1º de Mayo de Madrid; Florencia Abbate, poet and essayist; Antonio Miravent Martín, Conceal Spokesman of the United Left in Ayamonte –Huelva-; Jesús Ruiperéz García, architect; Carlos Piera, poet; Ángel Campos Pámpano, poet and translator; Enrique Falcón, poet; Juan Pastor, poet and editor; Víctor M. Diaz, poet; Jorge Riechman, poet and social investigator; Juan Carlos Mestre, poet; Sergio Infante, writer and university teacher; Mariano Peyrou, poet; José María Gómez Valero, poet and writer; Antonio Méndez Rubio, university teacher; David Eloy Rodríguez, poet and writer; Malika Embarek López, translator; Osías Stutman, poet and scientific; José Albelda, painter, essayist and university teacher; Martha Viñals, tapestry; José Viñals, poet; José A. Sánchez, university teacher; Manuel Rico, writer and critic; Dionisio Cañas, poet; Mireia Pol, writer; Francisco Plata, poet; Virgilio Tortosa; Antonio Martínez Peris; David Martínez Peris; Raül Martínez Peris; Sergio Martínez Peris; Salvador Rosell Crespo; Juan Diego González Muñoz; Enrique Pérez Tomás; Alejandro Garros De Vicente; Gabriel Viñals Guzmán; María Ángeles Maeso, poet; Luis González-Adalid, editor; Pedro J. de la Peña, poet; Antonio Porpetta, poet; Ricardo Bellveser, poet; J. L. Rodríguez García, writer and university teacher; Andolin Eguzkitza, poet; Mada Alderete Vincent, poet, journalist and teacher; Oscar Carpintero, university teacher; Francisco José Cruz, writer; Ferrán Fernández, poet, university teacher and editor; Concha García, poet (Spain); Eira Stenberg, poet; Jukka Koskelainen, poet (Finland); Christian Salmon, Executive Director of the International Writers Parliament; Nicole Laurent-Catrice, poet and organizer of the International Poetry Festival Tombés de la Nuit in Brittany; Bénédicte Brusset, organizer of the International Itinerary Poetry Festival of Africa (France); Esther Dischereit, poet (Germany); Ersi Sotiropoulos, poet (Greece); Francisco Morales Santos, poet, (Guatemala); Gabriel Rosenstock, poet (Ireland); Péter Kántor, poet and translator (Hungary); Birgitta Jonsdóttir, poet (Island); Shlomo Avayou, poet, translator and writer; Margalit Matitiahu, poet and general secretary of the Writer Association of Israel (Israel); Claudio Pozzani, poet and director of the International Poetry Festival of Geneva; Humberto Mangani, poet, Director of the International Poetry Festival of Sidaja, Trieste (Italy); Taijin Tendo, poet (Japan); Margaret Randall, poet (United States); Jean Portante, poet (Luxemburg); Hassan El-Ouazzani, poet (Morocco); Homero Aridjis, poet and novelist, president of the International PEN; Alejandro Aura, poet, writer and playwright; Natalia Toledo, poet –Zapoteca Nation-; Elsa Cross, poet; Lina Zerón, poet; Luis Cortés Bargalló, writer; Leticia Huijara, writer;
Julieta Egurrola, writer; Jesús Ochoa, writer; Eugenia Leñero, writer; Germaine Gómez Haro, writer; Verónica Loera, writer; María Eugenia Hernández, writer; Irma Villaseñor Salto, writer; José Alfredo Pineda, writer; María Luisa Mártínez Passarge, writer; María Vázquez Valdez; writer; Enzia Verducchi, writer; David Huerta, poet; Verónica Murguía, writer; Juan Villoro, writer; Felipe Eherenberg, painter; Silvia Pratt, writer; Arnoldo Kraus, writer; Marcela Sánchez Mota, writer; Eduardo Hurtado; José Vicente Anaya, writer; Margarito Cuellar, poet; Héctor Carreto, writer; Eduardo Langagne, writer; Francisco Martínez Negrete, writer; Fabio Morábito, writer; José Ángel Leyva, writer; Julián Herbert, writer; Eugenia Echeverría, writer; Carlos García Tort, writer; Alicia García Verruga, writer; Ana García Verruga, writer; María Eugenia Aguilar, writer; Ernesto Camou Healy, writer; Erika Doring, writer; Jorge Fuentes Morúa, writer; Guillermo Michel, writer; Verónica Volkow, poet; Guadalupe Angeles, writer; Myriam Moscona, poet and journalist (Mexico); Branislav Prelevich, poet and translator (Montenegro); Hans C. Ten Berge, poet (Netherlands); Ernesto Cardenal, poet; Ana Quiros, writer; Angela Saballos, writer; Vidaluz Meneses, poet; Claribel Alegría, poet; Isolda Hurtado, writer; Fernando A. Silva, writer; Luis Marina Acosta, writer; Martha Isabel Cranshaw, writer; María Isabel Argüello Martínez (Nicaragua); Pablo Menacho, poet; Consuelo Tomás, poet; Alexander Zanches, poet; Carlos Wynter Melo, writer (Panama); Susy Delgado, poet and cultural journalist (Paraguay); Arturo Corcuera, poet; Carlos López de Gregori, poet; Renato Sandoval, poet; José Miguel Oviedo, poet (Peru);
Casimiro de Brito, poet and President of the Pen Club, Rosa Alice Branco, poet; Inês Pedrosa, writer and journalist; Fernando Pinto do Amaral, poet; Fernando Aguiar, poet; Eduardo Pitta, poet (Portugal); Claire Pye, translator (United Kingdom); León Félix Batista, poet (Dominican Republic); Petru Cardu, poet and editor, president of the literary comunity of Vraackov; Carolina Ilica, poet, translator and director of the Poetry
Nights in Curtea de Arges; Dimitru M. Ion, poet, translator and editor (Rumania); Peter Shrager, poet (Rumania); Anzhelina Polonskaya (Russia); Dan Taulapapa McMullin (poet, Samoa); Zlatko Krasni, poet and
translator; Moma Dimic, poet and director of the Encounter of Poets in Belgrade (Serbia); Alberto Nessi, poet (Switzerland); Eva Runefelt, poet (Sweden); Mario Benedetti, poet; Eduardo Galeano, writer; Roberto
Mascaró, poet; Luis Bravo, poet; Martha Canfield, poet and university teacher; Sergio Altesor, writer; Héctor Rosales, poet; Clemente Padín, poet and performer; Rafael Courtoisie, poet; Eduardo Milán, poet (Uruguay); Juan Sánchez Peláez, poet; María Antonieta Flórez, poet; Gonzalo Fragui, poet and editor; María Angélica León, philosopher; Santos López, poet; Arturo Gutiérrez Plaza, poet and essayist; Vladimir Vera, writer; Igor Barreto, poet; Alicia Torres, poet; Yolanda Pantin, poet; Luis Gerardo Mármol Bosch, poet and university teacher; Carmen Verde Arocha, poet, essayist and administrator of the Poetry House Pérez Bonalde (Venezuela), Al Aronowitz, journalist, publisher and editor of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST (U.S.A.). 

Organizers: Fernando Rendón, poet, director of the International Festival of Poetry in Medellín and the poetry journal PROMETEO (Colombia) Email: fearn@epm.net.co  URL: http://www.epm.net.co/VIIfestivalpoesia/ ; Tobías Burghardt, poet, essayist and translator of poetry (Germany) -tobiasburghardt@yahoo.com -- URL: (www.JuanGelman.org  ).  ##

* * *

CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX OF COLUMN EIGHTY

CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX OF COLUMNS

The Blacklisted Journalist can be contacted at P.O.Box 964, Elizabeth, NJ 07208-0964
The Blacklisted Journalist's E-Mail Address:
blackj@bigmagic.com
  

THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST IS A SERVICE MARK OF AL ARONOWITZ