Posted on 01/25/2010 12:01:45 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
MEXICO CITY - A new proposal from Mexico's ruling party could send musicians to prison for performing songs that glorify drug trafficking.
The law would bring prison sentences of up to three years for people who perform or produce songs or movies glamorizing criminals.
"Society sees drug ballads as nice, pleasant, inconsequential and harmless, but they are the opposite," National Action Party lawmaker Oscar Martin Arce told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The ballads, known as "narcocorridos," often describe drug trafficking and violence, and are popular among some norteno bands. After some killings, gangs pipe narcocorridos into police radio scanners, along with threatening messages.
Martin said his party's proposal, presented before Congress on Wednesday, also takes aim at low-budget movies praising drug lords. It was unclear when lawmakers would vote on it.
"We cannot accept it as normal. We cannot exalt these people because they themselves are distributing these materials among youths to lead them into a lifestyle where the bad guy wins," he said.
Martin said the proposal's intention is not to limit free expression, but to stop such performances from inciting crimes.
But Elijah Wald, author of the book, "Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas," said politicians are attempting to censor artists rather than attacking Mexico's real problems.
On his Web site, Wald has posted descriptions of dozens of past efforts to stop the songs, including radio broadcast bans and politicians' proposals.
"It is very hard to stop the drug trafficking," he said. "It is very easy to get your name in the papers by attacking famous musicians."
(Excerpt) Read more at krgv.com ...
Let’s NOT go after the drug sellers themselves-—hell, that could be dangerous! But if you’re a guitar player...WATCH OUT!!
Wasn’t “La Cucaracha” one of the VERY early songs? (”The Cockroach” or marijuana smoker.)
Mexico clearly doesn’t have ideas of free speech that match our sometimes-quixotic ones.
I’d like to tell those politicos “well that’s nice but why doesn’t it start in the churches?”
It’s good to see a government besides that of the USA ignores the sacred pact between itself and its citizens.
Mexican drug culture is inexorably intertwined with ours. After 50 years, untold billions of dollars and tons of incarcerated users were are we on the “war on drugs”. Perhaps we should look at our approach, because what we are doing is clearly not working. It’s a lot like trying to win the Vietnam war without invading North Vietnam, or China. If we are serious about “winning” this war, which I doubt, we would change our tactics. But, I don’t think this is a war we want to win, it instead is a war we love to wage.
One of the largest and most profitable sellers/promoters of narcocorridos is Universal Music, which is owned by the French media conglomerate Vivendi, and was previously owned by General Electric (NBC). Los Tigres del Norte are a hugely famous and popular Mexican narcocorrdio band that performs regularly in Washington DC at the National Guard Armory. I have always thought the whole situation slightly absurd. Los Tigres long ago bailed out of Mexico and now live in California. There are several other bands challenging their supremacy, all of which regularly tour the US, and most of which live in the US, although they claim to be Mexican groups.
Ya no puede caminar
Porque le falta, porque no tiene
Marijuana pa' fumar.
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