Songs for the Leader: South America Edition

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From Pinochet to Perón...

During the past century, most of South American countries were under the rule of ruthless dictators and polemic presidents who had a great impact on countries societies and culture. However, during these periods of times, by genuine desire or by force to meet the requirements of the cult of personality, many songs and marches were composed to honour those leaders and their political movements. "Songs for the Leader" is a section where we take a look at several songs dedicated to these people or their political movements. Today, we will review a list of the most popular songs of South American countries during those difficult times.

Augusto Pinochet

Argentina

Speaking about Juan Domingo Perón is very controversial. Especially after what the Peronist Party (now Partido Justicialista) has become. Nevertheless, Perón had a great popularity back on the day, and many songs were composed in his honour. However, the main song of the Peronist movement is, without any doubt, the Peronist March. This march is still used by the Justicialist Party on official events.

 

Also, the song has a version dedicated to Eva María Duarte (also known as Eva Perón, the spouse of Juan Domingo Perón) and Chilean President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. These versions use the same melody but different lyrics.

 

Brazil

Inspired by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar (ruler of Portugal), Getúlio Vargas created a government of right-wing tendencies with high authoritarianism and anti-communist policies. The result was the “New State” (Estado Novo”, which lasted from 1937 to 1945. The most popular song of that period was “Glórias ao Brasil”, composed by Nuno Roland in 1938.

Chile

Perhaps, if we speak about Augusto Pinochet, many of the horrible crimes that his government committed come to mind. Also, since 2017, a song became viral after it was uploaded to my original channel. That song was “Mi General Augusto Pinochet”, which was composed by Luis González Jiménez, a songwriter from Iquique as a tribute to General Pinochet.

During an official visit to Rapa Nui (a Chilean special territory located on Oceania), a song called “Iorana Presidente” was dedicated to Pinochet. The song is highly remembered because of the beautiful performance of Rapa Nui children, which ended up with Pinochet with some tears in his eyes and giving a hug to the little singer.

Source: Pinochet Siempre Eterno (YouTube - Archive)

On the other side of the road, we have one of the best known Chilean political songs, “Venceremos”. This song was composed by Sergio Ortega and the lyrics were written by Claudio Iturra, and it was used as a campaign song for Allende’s political party: Unidad Popular. Years later, a second version made by famous Chilean songwriter Victor Jara, changed the lyrics a little bit.

 

The song has inspired many around the world and it even has version in other languages such as Italian and Russian (sung by the Alexandrov Ensemble).

 

Paraguay

The dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner was the longest (and maybe the most repressive) among South American countries. During his rule, a strong cult of personality was enforced. This led to several Paraguayan artist to create songs to praise the leader. One of those was Samuel Aguayo, who composed the song called simply “General Stroessner”.

 

Also, a Paraguayan polka (with Guaraní lyrics) was dedicated to Alfredo Stroessner.

Perú

During the period of time in which the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Force (a left-wing regime) was in charge of the country, a song dedicated to General Juan Velasco Alvarado (and the movement itself) was composed. The song was called “Hymn to the Revolution”.


What are your thoughts?

Do you remember any other song about a Leader of a South American country?

Which region would you like to see on the next "Songs for the Leader" edition?

Tell us in the comments!


Comments

  1. Prasetio WardoyoJuly 26, 2020 at 3:39 AM

    I remember a controversy in Indonesia when it is known that a political party used the tune of "Venceremos" as one of the party song. It is controversial, since Indonesia still perceives communism as a forbidden ideology

    ReplyDelete
  2. Max HydrogenJuly 27, 2020 at 7:01 AM

    That Rapa Nui girl and tearful Pinochet was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. God bless el General. As for other songs, there's a video of a little North Korean girl singing about Tito when he visited that magical land.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Γιάννης ΤριαντάφυλλοςAugust 17, 2020 at 9:59 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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