Shakira, other Latin American stars sing for their cause -- ALAS
MEXICO City -- Not so long ago, Latin American artists wHO rundle up for mixer causes oft risked prison, exile or far worse.
What a difference a generation makes. On Thursday, a phalanx of Spanish-speaking bulge artists headed by Colombian maven Shakira and Spanish-Italian isaac Bashevis Singer Miguel Bosé gathered here to advertise a fresh initiative to aid Latin America's millions of poor people, malnourished and undereducated children. They were joined by the world's second-richest military personnel, a whirligig U.S. philanthropist and an international rabble of reporters drawn by a potent cocktail of celebrity, money and force, laced with an emerging social conscience.
Swathed in showbiz glamor, the philanthropic-promotional project testament culminate this afternoon with deuce free all-star concerts, ace in the Zócalo, or massive exchange plaza, of the Mexican capital, the other in the Costanera Sur, an ecological reserve on the edge of business district Buenos Aires.
"What's rattling inspiring is to see Latin United States of America for the first time in charge of its own issues," said Shakira, the polyglot 31-year-old chanteuse world Health Organization for years has helped children through her possess Barefooted Foundation garment and of late has been safekeeping caller with the likes of British people Prime Diplomatic minister Gordon Brown and World Bank Prexy Henry Martyn Robert B. Zoellick.
She'll perform in Buenos Aires as contribution of a roster that is supposed to include Alejandro Sanz, Calle 13, Gustavo Cerati, Paulina Rubio and Jorge Drexler. The United Mexican States City card lists Aleks Syntek, Juanes, Los Tigres del Norte, Maná, Babasonicos, Diego Torres, Ricky Martin and Tania Libertad.
Today's concerts, the most high profile send off up to now by Latin artists to fuse charity with celebrity, are expected to depict a come hearing in the hundreds of thousands. And piece just about participants acknowledged that Latin musical theater artists have lagged behind their U.S. and British people counterparts in altruistic enterprises, "the important thing," Shakira said, "is that we're here today."
Shakira was joined by Catherine Howard Whole wheat flour Buffett, firstborn boy of Rabbit warren Buffett, the world’s richest soul, according to Forbes magazine, and by Mexican telecommunications top executive Glen Gebhard Thin Helú, the world's second base richest, just in front of Circular Gates. Both hands announced they would increase their support of baby development and related programs through and through their personal foundations, Slim pledging $110 meg and Buffett $85 million. "One of the biggest problems anyplace in the globe . . . is the absorption of wealth, which creates a disruption of those wHO hold it and those world Health Organization don't get it," said Buffett, whose origination has given tens of millions of dollars to sociable programs in Mexico and Exchange America. "We experience those problems at home. But Mexico in spades has that challenge."
In a grim coincidence, on Th came an echo from a not-so-distant era when Latin American artists world Health Organization spoke up roughly poverty and sociable inequality took their lives in their custody. In Chile, a try announced the remnant of his investigation into the brutal mutilate of revered kinfolk singer Master Jara, a leader of Latin America's "freshly song" ethnic music crusade. Jara was arrested after the 1973 putsch lED by Gen. Augusto Pinochet and, according to lawcourt records, was tortured in front being machine-gunned to death.
The judge's determination to charge only when 1 soul in the caseful, a retired regular army colonel, was met with discouragement by Jara's attorney and widow woman, world Health Organization said they would invoke. driven resistance or hounded into deportee
During the shadow times when internecine wars raged and dictators of various political grade insignia presided all over much of Latin US, Argentine novelists, Brazilian liberal rock musicians, Salvadorian poets and many others suffered similar fates or were driven resistance.
Even today, with many countries enjoying booming economies and comparatively stable democracies, pickings a stand on a political or mixer issue is a rarer, and dicier, act for Latin performers than for Hollywood stars or john Rock gods such as Sir David Bruce Springsteen or U2's Bono (though the Dixie Chicks might experience a different idea).
Today's concerts ar being staged by the not-for-profit organisation Unfortunately (América Latina en Acción Solidaria), which was founded a twelvemonth and a half ago in Panama Metropolis. Unfortunately (the Spanish people countersign substance "wings") is the first gear Latin American organisation to wreak together so many prominent artists and financial impresarios behindhand a 1 causal agent, early puerility evolution assistance.
Jorge Ramos, the longtime lynchpin of Miami-based Noticiero Univision, the tidings air division of the Univision video network, in a telephone interview called Unluckily "unprecedented" in Latin America.
"In the yesteryear, completely these efforts to help the poor people were very nationalistic, and male-dominated," Ramos said. Regrettably is exhibit that "young multitude and artists" are unification crossways subject and ideological borders and "non expecting politicians to decide their future. They're pickings control of their own future."
Jorge RamosThe supporting of Slenderize, Buffett and another deep-pocketed Unluckily angel, Emilio Azcárraga Jean, chief administrator of the Grupo Televisa amusement company, testifies to the growing pull that Latin America's transcription artists cause with the region's movers and united Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing. In previous generations, novelists such as the Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa and Shakira's fellow Colombian, Gabriel García Márquez (ALAS' honorary president), were the nearly influential cultural figures. Today's pop up artists have taken their place.
Sort of than bringing up money or award grants, Alas is encouraging donations and volunteer support for existing nonprofits. "People ar condemned to poverty because there are no exits, or choices," Shakira said. "And children wHO don't get an opportunity end up as adults organism involved with things that they ne'er imagined they would be doing in the number one piazza, like dose trafficking or being recruited into malefactor groups."
Today's generation of Spanish-speaking stars isn't the first base to take office in charitable endeavors. Romantic crooners such as Julio Julio Iglesias and José José and Cuban salsa queen Celia Cruz have got been known for their philanthropic activities.
Just roughly young artists ar proving to be as outspoken as their predecessors. The Colombian pop singer-songwriter Juanes, sometimes called the Bono of Latin America, performed at the Alfred Nobel Peace Award ceremonies in December, assists mine victims through his Mi Sangre Foundation and in his music on a regular basis addresses the human bell of "narco-political" fierceness. Ramos said that Latin America's whitney Young musical theater artists besides are "break barriers in philanthropy" by persuading to a greater extent members of their countries' privileged elites to function with their wealth for good causes.
"Rich people classes in Latin USA ar not on the dot Saint Nicholas Claus," he said, adding that just about earn their wealth not only through hard sour only as well through "government activity connections, corruption and monopolies."
It crataegus laevigata need a balancing do to maintain support from figures like Melt off and Azcárraga, whose companies have been targets of complaints that they ar quasi-monopolies. Merely, Ramos said,"these artists feel protected because they're doing well financially and they're very well known, just too because they have the means to face those in big businessman and to make them do things."
reed.johnson@latimes.com
Fergie's mother denies pregnancy reports
