SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Argentine Singer-Songwriter Facundo Cabral Murdered in Guatemala
Argentine singer-songwriter, Facundo Cabral, died Saturday after a car he was traveling in was ambushed by gunmen in Guatemala. He was one of Latin America's most admired folk singers and a man the United Nations once designated as a, "worldwide messenger of peace." Cabral's death sent shock waves throughout Latin America and the international community. Hundreds gathered in Guatemala City to commemorate the celebrated singer's death over the weekend.
Jul 11, 2011
Argentine singer-songwriter, Facundo Cabral, died Saturday after a car he was traveling in was ambushed by gunmen in Guatemala. He was one of Latin America's most admired folk singers and a man the United Nations once designated as a, "worldwide messenger of peace." Cabral's death sent shock waves throughout Latin America and the international community. Hundreds gathered in Guatemala City to commemorate the celebrated singer's death over the weekend. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared three days of national mourning in honor of the musician's passing. The eighth child of a poor Argentine family, Cabral's songs were known for mixing themes of social justice and spirituality. He fled his native Argentina to Mexico in 1976 after a military junta seized control of the country and remained in exile until the fall of the dictatorship in 1982. According to President Colom, Cabral's killers were "professional hit men," who used three cars to surround and attack the vehicle the famous singer rode in. Cabral's road manager and a Nicaraguan concert promoter and nightclub owner were also critically wounded in the attack. Authorities have suggested the Nicaraguan, a man by the name of Henry Farina Fonseca, was the target of the violence, but Nobel Prize-winner Rigoberta Menchu, a friend of Cabral, believes the ambush may have been related to Cabral's beliefs.
Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel Peace-Prize winner and friend: "Facundo Cabral is a teacher, I always loved his songs in the 70s, he said "he was never from here or he was never from there" [Cabral song lyrics] and today we dedicate this song to him because he loved Guatemala a lot. He has been here many times in our county. He was very considerate and I remember he had marvelous phrases in his music. But finally today we are repudiating a terrible crime in Guatemala, a terrible crime in our country. A crime that is creating horror and fear and I can't stop thinking that he was killed for his ideals because there is no reason as to why he needed to be killed here in Guatemala."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Argentine singer-songwriter, Facundo Cabral, died Saturday after a car he was traveling in was ambushed by gunmen in Guatemala. He was one of Latin America's most admired folk singers and a man the United Nations once designated as a, "worldwide messenger of peace." Cabral's death sent shock waves throughout Latin America and the international community. Hundreds gathered in Guatemala City to commemorate the celebrated singer's death over the weekend. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared three days of national mourning in honor of the musician's passing. The eighth child of a poor Argentine family, Cabral's songs were known for mixing themes of social justice and spirituality. He fled his native Argentina to Mexico in 1976 after a military junta seized control of the country and remained in exile until the fall of the dictatorship in 1982. According to President Colom, Cabral's killers were "professional hit men," who used three cars to surround and attack the vehicle the famous singer rode in. Cabral's road manager and a Nicaraguan concert promoter and nightclub owner were also critically wounded in the attack. Authorities have suggested the Nicaraguan, a man by the name of Henry Farina Fonseca, was the target of the violence, but Nobel Prize-winner Rigoberta Menchu, a friend of Cabral, believes the ambush may have been related to Cabral's beliefs.
Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel Peace-Prize winner and friend: "Facundo Cabral is a teacher, I always loved his songs in the 70s, he said "he was never from here or he was never from there" [Cabral song lyrics] and today we dedicate this song to him because he loved Guatemala a lot. He has been here many times in our county. He was very considerate and I remember he had marvelous phrases in his music. But finally today we are repudiating a terrible crime in Guatemala, a terrible crime in our country. A crime that is creating horror and fear and I can't stop thinking that he was killed for his ideals because there is no reason as to why he needed to be killed here in Guatemala."
Argentine singer-songwriter, Facundo Cabral, died Saturday after a car he was traveling in was ambushed by gunmen in Guatemala. He was one of Latin America's most admired folk singers and a man the United Nations once designated as a, "worldwide messenger of peace." Cabral's death sent shock waves throughout Latin America and the international community. Hundreds gathered in Guatemala City to commemorate the celebrated singer's death over the weekend. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared three days of national mourning in honor of the musician's passing. The eighth child of a poor Argentine family, Cabral's songs were known for mixing themes of social justice and spirituality. He fled his native Argentina to Mexico in 1976 after a military junta seized control of the country and remained in exile until the fall of the dictatorship in 1982. According to President Colom, Cabral's killers were "professional hit men," who used three cars to surround and attack the vehicle the famous singer rode in. Cabral's road manager and a Nicaraguan concert promoter and nightclub owner were also critically wounded in the attack. Authorities have suggested the Nicaraguan, a man by the name of Henry Farina Fonseca, was the target of the violence, but Nobel Prize-winner Rigoberta Menchu, a friend of Cabral, believes the ambush may have been related to Cabral's beliefs.
Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel Peace-Prize winner and friend: "Facundo Cabral is a teacher, I always loved his songs in the 70s, he said "he was never from here or he was never from there" [Cabral song lyrics] and today we dedicate this song to him because he loved Guatemala a lot. He has been here many times in our county. He was very considerate and I remember he had marvelous phrases in his music. But finally today we are repudiating a terrible crime in Guatemala, a terrible crime in our country. A crime that is creating horror and fear and I can't stop thinking that he was killed for his ideals because there is no reason as to why he needed to be killed here in Guatemala."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.