Canto a Camilo [English translation]

I sing to you, because I don’t believe

that you’re dead, Camilo.

I sing to you, because you’re alive

and not because you’re dead.

Because you live in the hearts 1

of the people you loved,

in the smiles of the children

and in the greenness of the palms.

I sing to you, because you’re alive, Camilo,

and not because you’re dead. (bis)

Because you live, you avenger,

in the rough and smooth iron

of the peasants’ machetes

and of the rifles of the workers.

Because your presence lives

among the people who listen to you,

because you still fight,

fight for the independence.

I sing to you, because you’re alive, Camilo,

and not because you’re dead. (bis)

Because you live, soldier,

for the motherland, always awake,

because you live in schools,

in the soil and in the plough.

Your sweet face lives

on the star of the Cuban flag,

lives in the agrarian reform

and in the dreams of Fidel.

I sing to you, because you’re alive, Camilo,

and not because you’re dead. (bis)

You will live in the fight

of your insurgent arms, 2

if on the pathway of our fatherland

a bad idea appears.

And later, noble and calm,

the same as at that time,

you will hear again Fidel

asking: “Am I right, Camilo?

1. Literally: "souls".2. Guerrilla arms.