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Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill: Los pichiciegos (Malvinas Requiem)
This book is set in the latter stages of the Falklands War in 1982. The story essentially concerns a group of around twenty-five Argentinian deserters who have managed to dig an underground shelter for themselves, thanks to one of their number who is experienced in such matters and is nicknamed The Engineer. The deserters call themselves the dillos pichiciegos in the original Spanish) because some of their number are familiar with the habits of armadillos which are expert diggers, looking for the grubs, termites, etc that they feed on. The Spanish title is a type of armadillo.
The group is run by four men who call themselves The Four Kings. They are Quique, Viterbo, the Turk and the aforementioned The Engineer. Turk is a generic term for anyone of Arab origin. Their composition has changed somewhat as two of them were killed( by Argentinians). They rule with a rod of iron as it is very important to maintain iron discipline. For example, on the whole thy do not go out during the day as they risk being shot/captured by either side and/or revealing their hiding place. Indeed if they are captured by their own side, they risk being tied up and left outside overnight and freezing to death. (The nighttime temperature is well below freezing). you had to be British or like the British to want and come and freeze your arse off here when over there lay Argentina so fine and wide and with the Sun shining down on it .
The Four Kings also manage two other key features – hygiene/health and supplies. The former is dealt with by anti- diarrhoea tablets and strict rules about where and when they can defecate.
However the most interesting aspect is how they obtain supplies. They obviously steal where they can, including from the dead (both sides) or abandoned equipment but also by trading with the locals, their own side and the British. The British seem to have much better supplies and trade with the dillos by giving them chocolate, cigarettes, medical supplies and more in return for information. Later the British get the dillos to plant mysterious boxes at key points in the Argentinian camp. These are not bombs, as they initially thought, but radio guidance devices so that the British could pinpoint their rocket attacks on, for example, the Argentinian ammunition dumps or lorries. Yes, they are betraying their country but feel it is justified. They even cheer the British attack on the ammunition dump. When they have political discussions they are generally quite critical of their government and do not for one moment believe there is the slightest chance that they will win. The radio propaganda tells them that they are winning. They know that this is very much not the case. One man is nicknamed Galtieri after heArgentinian leader, as, like the General, he seems to think the Argentinians can win. No-one else shares his views. The British clearly have the better equipment such as Harrier jump jets, which very much impress the dillos, and better organisation. The British eventually insist on having two of their men implanted in ther Warren, which is what they call their underground burrow and threaten to tell the Argentinian military about the Warren if they do not co-operate.
Life is very boring as they cannot go out during the day and the Four Kings are ruthless. Three men who do not seem to be pulling their weight are handed over to the British. There is a rumour, unsubstantiated, that the British torture and/or rape their prisoners. However they do manage to get a radio and much prefer to listen to the British radio, with British rock than Argentinian radio, even if the compère is Chilean and her Spanish is almost incomprehensible.
Inevitably there are rumours – the Russians are coming, Argentina will never have free elections again. the Argentinian officers are in cahoots with the British. There are also strange visions – nuns singing and handing out leaflets to the sheep and Argentinian planes swallowed up by a strange rainbow.
They discuss what might happen to them. They suspect and hope that they will end up as British prisoners-of-war and then be returned to Argentina, though another rumour has it that they British put prisoners on a boat, set the engine going and jam the rudder so they head South.
What do they miss most? Clean sheets are high on the list as are a decent meal, sex and seeing their family.
We have known from the beginning that the end of the war is near and, inevitably, it comes to an end but, for most of the dillos, the end is not smooth and easy. We also see something of the aftermath, with Fogwill writing this book and telling the story as well as a little bit about post-war Argentina.
Though short this is certainly an interesting book, not least because Fogwill is highly critical of his own side and the collusion between the dillos and the British and the strong criticism of the Argentinian officer class adds to the interest. Surprisingly , this is the only one of his novels translated into English.
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Publishing history
First published in 1983 by Interzona
First English translation in 2007 by Serpent’s Tail
Translated by Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson