"The Dictators," a 1950 poem by the Chilean writer Pablo Neruda, explores the power structures, inequalities, and violent conflicts in an unnamed dictatorship. It depicts ordinary individuals' suffering and death, juxtaposing these horrific scenes with images of the ruling class's luxury and ease, and suggesting that violence, revenge, and further suffering are inevitable. Like much of Neruda's work, the poem is packed with fanciful figurative language and a broad range of sensory images.
It was originally published in Spanish as part of Neruda's volume Canto General, which as a whole is concerned with the history and politics of Latin America. Though the precise geographical setting of "The Dictators" is unclear, certain details—such as the mention of sugarcane—suggest that it takes place in South America. As a result, it is a response not merely to authoritarianism but to colonial extraction and control.
The translation discussed in this guide was performed by the poet Ben Belitt and published in a 1952 issue of Poetry magazine, alongside a translation of Neruda's poem "Hunger in the South."
