infundibulum

There are a few US politicians who speak Spanish fluently, Colorado Democratic Senator Ken Salazar is among them (Mel Martinez is another, I’m sure there are more…). Salazar said something in Spanish which has been translated to English as follows:

Pantagraph.com | News | Durbin, 5 other senators seek dialogue with Bolivia

Sen. Ken Salazar, a Colorado Democrat, said in fluent Spanish to Bolivian reporters that the visit “signals a different direction’’ for U.S.-Bolivian relations, which have been strained under Bolivia’s leftist leader Evo Morales.

“I believe all of us want the same thing, to help lift up the people of Latin America so that they can achieve the human dignity they deserve,’’ Salazar said.

Here’s the original quote in Spanish:

Periodico Opinión

Salazar, demócrata de Colorado, señaló a la prensa antes de la entrevista con Morales, que tanto Estados Unidos como Bolivia, buscan “la misma cosa, que es levantar al pueblo para que la gente pueda realizar la dignidad humana que merecen“.

(Emphases mine.)

I suppose I might be picking at nits, but I wonder if “achieve the dignity they deserve” is an appropriate translation for “realizar la dignidad humana que merecen.”

The distinction seems important to me: “achieve” suggests that the people in question have no human dignity at present, where as Spanish realizar might be equally well translated (in this instance) simply as “realize,” and would suggest that human dignity is (duh) inherent to them, and the goal Salazar is talking about is the expression of that dignity…

Mis dos centavos. Or something.