Poet, hero, rapist - outrage over Chilean plan to rename airport after Neruda
Poet, hero, rapist – outrage over Chilean plan to rename airport after Neruda
Human rights activists argue that the honour is inappropriate for a man who described raping a maid in his memoir
Pablo Neruda was a Nobel laureate whose poetry chronicled the lives and struggles of ordinary Latin Americans, and whose life was upheld as a symbol of resistance to dictatorship. But a decision to rename Chile’s busiest international airport after him has been met with outrage from human rights activists who argue that the honour is inappropriate for a man who admitted to rape in his own memoirs.
The cultural committee of Chile’s lower house voted this month to rename Santiago airport after Neruda, best known for his encyclopedic work Canto General, or General Song, a sweeping verse history of the Americas. Carolina Marzán, a deputy who voted in favour of the move, told reporters that the name of the poet “who made all Chileans proud” should be the first thing visitors see when they arrive in the country.
But any pride Chileans may have previously felt for Neruda is souring amid a reassessment prompted by a string of student-led feminist protests across the country. The movement was rooted in the campaign for abortion rights, and has been bolstered by Latin America’s #NiUnaMenos protests against femicide and the global #MeToo movement against sexual violence.
“There is no clear reason to rename the airport, and it is happening at a time when women are only beginning to dare denounce their abusers,” said Karen Vergara Sánchez, a student and activist who protested sexual harassment during a national wave of university strikes earlier this year.
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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/23/chile-neruda-airport-rename-outrage-admitted-rape-memoirs