A mountain of a woman, Mercedes Sosa has a voice from the bowels of the earth. I came across her music when travelling through South America for a year. Argentina was probably my favourite country, and despite the fact that it was soon after the Falklands conflict, I was made to feel very welcome.
The first time I crossed over the border, between Chile and Argentina, a whole day journey by boat, foot, landrover, crossing rivers and mountains, I was anxious because I did not have the visa neccessary. To get the visa would have entailed a 2 day trip to Santiago, Chile’s capital. No problem, I was waved through. On the other side, a truck driver with a gourd of maté (a bitter herbal tea) and a silver straw to suck it through, gave us a lift to a tiny town in Patagonia. From there I visited Cueva de las manos, a pre-historic cave in the middle of nowhere, with some of the earliest cave paintings, a series of ghostly almost sprayed-on hand prints in ochre. Bruce Chatwin writes about this place in his book, ‘In Patagonia’.
The second time I crossed the border into Argentina was less successful. This time it was from the poor North, the location where originated the majority of the mortalities in the war, 18 year olds most of them, forced there by the junta. This time I had the right papers, but the border police would not let me in. No reason. Except perhaps the poster on the wall saying ‘Las malvinas son nuestras’. I turned back, another 2 day journey hitching in trucks, and entered at another border point.
Ben Emlyn-Jones
February 23, 2009 at 7:20 pmPoor folk always die in wars, especially young conscripts. Maybe the oil field in the region of the Falklands was the real reason that "Las Malvinas" were
"nuestras", and for the Thatcher govt's reaction to it…
I'd like to visit the Welsh communities in Patagonia; aparently they speak Welsh with a Spanish accent. I'll definitely put the places you went to, ML, on the list of stop-offs on my future trip around the world. Did you meet any there, ML?
Mister Trippy
February 24, 2009 at 1:00 pmShe can really sing but not my type of music I'm afraid. I'm more interested in your travel tales…. And that whole period of armed conflict in Las Malvinas was horrible, I remember getting into so many arguments with dickheads about British imperialism…. not that I supported either side since I was against militarism but so many people just seemed to take this "my country right or wrong" attitude (except of course they wrongly believed their "country" was right – but whose country was it anyway? Not mine for sure!).
Mister Trippy
February 24, 2009 at 1:01 pmShe can really sing but not my type of music I'm afraid. I'm more interested in your travel tales…. And that whole period of armed conflict in Las Malvinas was horrible, I remember getting into so many arguments with dickheads about British imperialism…. not that I supported either side since I was against militarism but so many people just seemed to take this "my country right or wrong" attitude (except of course they wrongly believed their "country" was right – but whose country was it anyway? Not mine for sure!).
Msmarmitelover
February 24, 2009 at 11:16 pmThanks guys.
I lost 3 followers with that post. I was wondering if it was boring!
Ben Emlyn-Jones
February 25, 2009 at 12:00 amMr Trippy, I sometimes wonder if the whole concept of national sovereignty is somewhat perverse! How can anyone "own" a country? I believe we, as the dominent land animal on this planet, are stewards and guardians of the land; but we can't treat it as our property, as if it were our house or car. This was how Western powers took over indigenous lands during the rose of the Empires, because the natives didn't understand the concept of territory or land-possession. See Chief Seattle's letter: "How can you buy or sell the sky?"
ML, it was not boring at all. Don't worry, it could well be that even people who are no longer officially following your blog still read it 😉 The "Followers" list on our profile page can look a bit obtrusive and confusing.
Lynne Rutter
February 25, 2009 at 4:06 ami have a close friend who is really interested in this style of music, and he has put up a page of recordings, information and links to more here:
http://setiweb.ssl.berkeley.edu/~davea/nueva_cancion.php
enjoy!
MsMarmitelover
February 25, 2009 at 2:31 pmThanks Lynn,
What a great page!
The story of Victor Jara really touched me deeply when I was a child to the point that I made sure that I was in Chile when Pinochet was kicked out finally.
Have checked your site and the work you do is beautiful.
Ms MLx
Grant
February 26, 2009 at 7:26 pmKeep on singing and expressing!!