Sometimes Writers Are Misinterpreted

Anybody who writes doesn't like to be misunderstood.
Norman MacCaig


I have written several articles about Father Héctor Gallego, the Colombian priest whose life work serves as the inspiration for the novel I’m currently revising: The Saint of Santa Fe.

In commemoration of the thirty-sixth anniversary of Father Gallegos’ disappearance, I wrote the article “A Time for Truth,” which appeared in the June 18 issue of The Panama News.

The Panama News received a letter in response to this piece. However, before sharing this reader’s opinion, I want to ask, did I really exonerate General Omar Torrijos from responsibility in Father Gallegos’ death?

Here is Jim Marsh’s letter:

Please may I say how much I enjoyed the recent article by Silvio Sirias on the tragic disappearance of Father Héctor Gallego, the well-loved priest of Santa Fe, whose work with the campesinos brought him into direct conflict with the military rule of Omar Torrijos.

Whilst I agree with many of the conclusions reached by Silvio, I disagree strongly with his belief that Torrijos knew nothing about the abduction and probable murder of Father Gallego.

The same “ignorance of events” was used by many high-ranking Nazis at Nuremberg, where many tried to protect Hitler’s memory by claiming that he knew nothing about the death camps, and it was all the work of Himmler, and Himmler alone.

Every time some one goes digging at a former military base, further corpses always seem to be unearthed—victims of an era that most Torrijos apologists tend to forget.

In any other democracy, there would be strenuous efforts to locate and properly bury such tragic victims, but not in Panama.

So we wait, and we hope that one day, maybe some one, somewhere, will find the bones of Father Gallego, and allow us to bury the man who did so much to help those less fortunate than himself.

Only then can we stop asking the question “¿Donde está Héctor Gallego?”

Saludos,

Jim Marsh
United Kingdom