NERUDA'S REPLY TO CUBAN INTELLECTUALS
Dear Comrades:.
‘- The expressions of concern over me made by a group of Cuban. writers have puzzled me deeply, because they are groundless. I ask . you to take into consideration more than the-speculations.and the ... mutilations of my texts published in certain reports inthe Yankee press; perhaps greatest weight should be given to the opinions of U.S. Communists. i ne, .
You seem to: be unaware that. my entry into the U.S., as.well as the entry of Communist writers of other countries, was accom-.. plished. by breaking down long-standing U.S.State Department. prohibitions, thanks to actions taken by leftist intellectuals.; In-the U.S. and other countries included in my visit, I set forth my communist ideas, my unshakeable principles, and my revolutionary poetry. I have a right to expect and demand that you, who know me well, do not harbor or spread any inadmissible doubts in this respect. In the U.S. as well as everywhere: else,!-I. have been heard and respected on the basis of what I am and always will be: a poet who does. not. hide his thinking, and who has placed his life and his work at the service of the liberation of our peoples.
As for me, my concern is more realistic than yours, regarding the manner in which certain differences -- much more significant than my own person -- are being dealt with. I take the liberty to urge you to explore this’ more deeply and to place the stress upon mutual responsibility and the maintenance and development of the necessary anti-imperialist continental unity between writers and all revolutionary forces.
Once again I express through you -- as I have through ny
poetry -- my passionate adherence to the Cuban Revolution.
Fraternally,
Pablo