Appendix 6 - International Music Council

RESEARCH MUSICAL DIVERSITY
LATIN AMERICA
INTRODUCTION
Latin American countries are located in the three main regions in which the continent is
divided: North America (just Mexico), Central America/Caribbean Islands and South
America.
During the 16 th , 17 th and 18 th centuries, most of its countries were Spanish colonies. Some
of them were Portuguese and French, and in few cases British and Dutch, and although its
origins are not Latin, they belong to the Latin American concept because of its
geographical location and its mixed culture.
As a Spanish-speaking region, Latin America is the most populated in the world and has an
abundant cultural diversity.
More than 513 million people are descendants of an ethnic plurality, a mixture of three
main races: American Indian aborigines, European immigrants and African commercialized
slaves. Percentages vary from one country to another; the one called “mestiza”, with
American Indian and European parentage, is predominant.
Between the 19 th and 20 th centuries, lots of other immigrants found in these territories a
place to work and live – for instance, Italians, Jewish, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, etc., as
well as Mormon and Mennonite communities.
People from this region praise highly their ethnic and historic similarity, and due to their
cultural and political identity, recognize themselves as Latin-Americans, but actually they
are Americans, this is, natives of a continent called América. The misunderstood use of this
genitive makes many Latin American people feel negatively affected by the modern
colonialism of the United States, because the use of the term “American” has helped it to be
invasive culturally, economically and socially to the other countries sharing the same land.
This is not just about geography or genitive, it reaches as far as identity and culture.
The historical phenomenon of a growing population influenced by the occidental culture
increases the consumption of commercial musical expressions (most of all Saxon
influence), supported by the industries of television and spectacle, where the tendency
persists to privilege white skin concepts.
As a heritage of colonial lifestyle, high and low socioeconomic classes frequently have
drastic differences in their musical preferences: In general terms, imported commercial
music is preferred by the upper classes; on the other hand, native and African-Caribbean
music (genuine and/or commercial) is consumed by low socioeconomic classes, and played
by local groups.
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