Hugo Chávez, Alí Primera and Venezuela: The Politics of Music in Latin America

244 Pages·2016·2.96 MB·English

by  Hazel Marsh (auth.)

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Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and
Popular Music
Series Editors
Keith   Gildart
University of Wolverhampton, UK
Anna   Gough-Yates
University of Roehampton, UK
Sian   Lincoln
Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Bill   Osgerby
London Metropolitan University, UK
Lucy   Robinson
University of Sussex, UK
John   Street
University of East Anglia , UK
Pete   Webb
University of the West of England, UK
Matthew   Worley
University of Reading, UK
From 1940s zoot-suiters and hepcats through 1950s rock ‘n’ rollers, beat-
niks and Teddy boys; 1960s surfers, rude boys, mods, hippies and bikers;
1970s skinheads, soul boys, rastas, glam rockers, funksters and punks; on
to the heavy metal, hip-hop, casual, goth, rave and clubber styles of the
1980s, 90s, noughties and beyond, distinctive blends of fashion and music
have become a defi ning feature of the cultural landscape. The Subcultures
Network series is international in scope and designed to explore the social
and political implications of subcultural forms. Youth and subcultures will
be located in their historical, socio-economic and cultural context; the
motivations and meanings applied to the aesthetics, actions and manifesta-
tions of youth and subculture will be assessed. The objective is to facilitate
a genuinely cross-disciplinary and transnational outlet for a burgeoning
area of academic study
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14579
Hazel   Marsh
Hugo Chávez,
Alí Primera
and Venezuela
The Politics of Music in Latin America
Hazel   Marsh
School of Politics, Philosophy, Language
and Communication Studies
University of East Anglia
Norwich
United Kingdom
Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music
ISBN 978-1-137-57967-6 ISBN 978-1-137-57968-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-57968-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016955553
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A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my immense gratitude to Professor John Street
and to Nick Caistor for their support and guidance over the years it took
to produce this book. I would also like to thank the Society for Latin
American Studies for funding my second research trip to Venezuela in
2008. I thank the many Venezuelans (several of whom must remain
anonymous) in Caracas, Falcón and Lara, and at Radio Comunitaria
23 de Enero and Radio Comunitaria Guachirongo, who agreed to be
interviewed and were so generous with their time. In particular, I thank
Oscar Acosta, José Roberto Duque, Los Guaraguao, Charles Hardy,
Sol Mussett, Alí Alejandro Primera, Florentino Primera, Juan Simón
Primera, Sandino Primera, Ivan Padilla, Diego Silva, Lilia Vera, Gregorio
Yépez and Sandra Zapata. In Barquisimeto, Lisa Sullivan not only pro-
vided hospitality, but she also gave freely of her time and introduced
me to many interesting people. In Caracas, I thank Cesar Aponte, who
fi rst introduced me to Alí Primera’s music, Mirian, for looking after me
so well and for so many interesting conversations, José Miguel, for his
assistance and companionship during my fi eld work, Andrés Castillo and
his family, for their warmth and generosity in making so much informa-
tion about Alí accessible to me, and Lil Rodríguez, whose practical help
during the fi nal stages of writing this book was invaluable. Jesús Franquis
very generously allowed me to use his original photographs, for which I
thank him warmly.
I am grateful to the late Dr Jan Fairley, a much missed friend whose
pioneering work on N ueva Canción has been hugely infl uential for many
scholars of Latin American popular music and politics.
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dr Geoff Baker and Professor Julia Buxton offered tremendously useful
advice and insights, for which I thank them wholeheartedly.
I would like to thank Peter Wilks for the invaluable support that
enabled me to travel to Cuba and Venezuela in 2005 to begin research
for this book, Dr Lucio Esposito for the very helpful comments he made
on this work in September 2013, and professor Andy Wood, for his very
useful feedback at the early stages of writing.
Dr Mike Robbins has not only offered helpful comments on my writ-
ing, but he has also been a tremendous support and source of encourage-
ment and inspiration over the years. Thank you Mike. Sarah Bowey gave
me some reviews of Alí Primera’s concerts which were invaluable for the
writing of this book, for which I thank her. My father John, an endless
fountain of jokes and amusing anecdotes about life abroad, has always kept
me smiling. Finally, without my mother Mavis, I would not have found
the time to complete this work; I would like to thank her for her bound-
less energy in caring for my children with such love and devotion over so
many weekends and school holidays.
I dedicate this book with love to my children, Johnny and Esme; their
affectionate attitude of total irreverence towards my research has been and
continues to be a joy, and always reminds me of life’s priorities.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
2 Latin American N ueva Canción : The Leftist Revival of 
Folk Traditions 25
3 The Development of N ueva Canción in Venezuela: Alí
Primera and C anción Necesaria 4 7
4 Collective Memories of Alí Primera in the Late Punto
Fijo Period (1985–1989) 91
5 Alí Primera and Hugo Chávez in the 1990s: ‘Together
in Hope and Song’ 117
6 Alí Primera and Venezuelan Cultural Policy in the 
Twenty-First Century 137
7 Alí Primera’s C anción Necesaria and C havismo 1 67
8 Latin American New Song: An Enduring Legacy 2 07
vii
viii CONTENTS
Discography 2 15
References 2 17
Index 2 29
L F
IST OF IGURES
Fig. 3.1 View of Amuay oil refi nery from outside Alí’s childhood
home, Paraguaná 57
Figs. 3.2 and 3.3 Alí Primera singing with other Latin American
musicians at Festivales de la Canción Bolivariana
[Festivals of Bolivarian Song] in Venezuela, 1983 8 4
Fig. 4.1 Photographs of Alí published in posthumous press
article. Tarabacoa, 18 March 1985 (Reproduced in
Castillo and Marroquí 2005: 231) 9 7
Fig. 4.2 Alí Primera’s c aja de limpiabotas [bootblack box]
displayed with images of Bolívar and of Catholic
and Santería fi gures at Carmen Adela’s home in
Paraguaná in July 2005 1 11
Figs. 4.3 and 4.4 Homemade fi gures of Alí, in Barrio Alí Primera,
Paraguaná Peninsula, July 2005 1 11
Fig. 5.1 Alí Primera’s tomb in Paraguaná 1 23
Fig. 6.1 Alí’s caja de limpiabotas [bootblack box] displayed
formally at the state funded Casa-Museo Alí Primera,
Paraguaná 1 53
Fig. 6.2 Monument to Alí in Caujarao, Falcón 154
ix