Señor Martinez Mondragon's bekännelse [English translation]

We left our camp

before the sun broke out,

we were eleven privates

and a captain in our unit.

We went towards Nicaragua,

and reached the border at 7:00,

and already by 8:00

we came to the first village.

Our assignment was to recruit

farmers from the village,

but it seemed that most

of them had already found time to flee.

We found only one who hid

in the well in a town square

When we found him we cut

the end of the rope, mostly as a joke.

He could not swim,

lt became serious in time;

His wife stood and yowled

like she was a dog.

We dragged him out of the water

and we demanded some answer,

among other things of

where the others had gone.

He shook his head

and hit out with his arms.

he was knocked down by the captain

with a kick in the intestines;

The poor one began to cry

and beg for his children

and he swore by everything holy

that he had no answer.

The interrogation led nowhere,

in spite of threats of all sorts.

The interrogation leader captain,

soon lost his patience;

he hissed out an order,

a few soldiers came forth.

and soon the wife lay tied up

in the square's hot sand.

They raped his wife carefully,

I remember there were three.

Her husband became so upset

that he must be quieted down;

Unfortunately he took the beating badly,

perhaps he was a little delicate.

because when the whole thing was over,

the farmer was in fact dead.

When the woman was released she screamed

that she must also die.

She clawed herself in the crotch

so her dress became red;

I couldn't watch it,

I must look away

but the captain took his responsibility,

and he made the suffering short.

I had a hard time gradually to

understand what happened myself;

One can refer to every war's

brutalizing effects,

It can be a partial explanation

that I am not a Sandinist,

but I don't think myself that it makes

the story less sad.

We murdered two poor ones,

that is am eternal shame;

But I hope that I can be allowed

to compensate what I can.

So with the jury's good memory

I want to meet their children,

and I will do everything I can express

to honor their mother and father,

I stand in all the events

to your disposal;

I have suspended myself voluntarily,

I don't murder any more.

I now renounce the Contras,

the CIA, and the Pentagon,

and the men who bought me

in the far away Washington."

...they left their camp

before the Sun broke through,

they were 10 privates

and a captain in his unit.

They walked towards Nicaagua,

the border was reached at 7:00.

and already by 8:00

they came to the next village...

• Artist:Björn Afzelius
• Album:Björn Afzelius & Mikael Wiehe (1986)