Maestro Facundo Cabral killed in Guatemala

A sad day for Argentina and the world. The great folk singer whose songs and poems were an inspiration for lovers, dreamers and those struggling against dictatorships across Latin America, was shot dead in Guatemala after giving a concert in Quetzaltenango, a city I visited in 2004.

My first encounter with his music was only recently. In 2009, Izyalit and I visited family in Mexico City. After a night of drinking and singing in Plaza Garibaldi her uncle drove us all home to the music of Facundo and his great friend and collaborator, Alberto Cortez. In my somewhat drunken state I asked her tio just who we were listening to.

In the words of Facundo, who touched on the sacred and ordinary, often in the same breath, and made it all sound beautiful:

"Siempre le pregunto a Dios, ¿por qué a mí tanto me diste? Me diste miseria, hambre, felicidad, lucha, luces...vi todo. Sé que hay cáncer, sífilis y primavera, y buñuelos de manzana." I always ask God, why did you give me so much? You gave me misery, hunger, happiness, struggle, lights... I saw everything. I know there is cancer, syphilis and spring, and apple fritters.