Born on 22nd May 1937 in the city of La Plata, south of Buenos Aires, Cabral’s rise to fame was not an easy one. The eighth child born to an impoverished family, the young Cabral was unable to speak until the age of 9 and illiterate until the age of 14. Migrating to the south of Argentina, Cabral continued to struggle and found himself frequently in trouble with the law. Cabral later claimed that at the age 9, he sneaked into the presidential palace where he persuaded Eva Perón to find a job for his mother.
However, it was in the remote region of Tierra del Fuego that Cabral was first exposed to Argentine folk music and it was whilst serving time in reform institution that a Jesuit priest taught Cabral to read and write. Little did he know that these skills would eventually lead him to international acclaim. Having managed to escape the reformatory and become a born-again Christian, Cabral moved to the town of Tandil where he busied himself with menial labour. Inspired by the work of Atahualpa Yupanqui and José Larralde, Cabral taught himself to play the guitar, and in 1959 began his career under the stage name, El Indio Gasparino in the seaside city of Mar del Plata.
In 1970 his spiritually infused song “No Soy de Aquí, ni Soy de Allá” landed him his first major success. Later recorded by Julio Iglesias and Neil Diamond, the hit launched a career that spanned more than four decades, produced dozens of albums, and saw Cabral performing in more than 150 countries. Described by a Los Angeles Times critic as “a Latin American Garrison Keillor,” his songs were characterised by a mystical spirituality and desire for social justice. Imbued with references to spiritual leaders such as Mother Teresa and Gandhi, along with writers such as Octavio Paz and Jorge Luis Borges, Cabral soon landed himself a reputation as a protest singer. This title was soon to prove a dangerous following Argentina’s military coup d’état in 1976. Subsequently, with the military junta in power, Cabral exiled to Mexico where he lived for eight years. until Argentina’s return to democracy in 1983.
During this period abroad, Cabral’s wife and infant daughter suffered a tragic fate and in 1978 died in an airplane crash. A devastating blow and immense source of pain for Cabral, it was an episode that highlighted a life marked with continual hardship and pain: “I was without a voice until I was 9, illiterate until I was 14, became a widower at 40 and only met my father when I was 46.”
Following Argentina’s return to democracy, Cabral returned to his homeland in 1983. At the time of doing so, Cabral had acquired an enormous following and his concerts were drawing tens of thousands of fans. Cabral explained to a Miami Herald journalist in 1996, “I’m a storyteller, a talker. Songs are for a change of pace. I’d say the word, the spoken word, is what is most important in what I do.” Through his call for freedom, peace and justice, his concerts were a unique mixture of music and the spoken word. According to Argentine singer Isabel de Sebastian, “after his concerts, you’d feel that our life in common was richer, more mysterious, more profound.”
It was two days after one of these concerts in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala that Cabral was shot to death en route to the airport of Guatemala City. Cabral was with his road agent, David Llanos and Nicaraguan concert promotor, Henry Fariña Fonseca when their car was hit by a hail of bullets in an attack involving three carloads of unidentified gunmen. Whilst Llanos and Fonseca emerged seriously wounded, Cabral was pronounced dead on Liberation Boulevard on 9th July 2011.
The sudden death of one of the most eloquent voices of Latin America provoked shock and outrage around the world. To this day it is still unknown who was the original target of the attack. Guatemalan authorities claimed that the bullets were intended for Henry Fariña Fonseca as a result of his involvement with organized crime. However, Guatemalan Indian leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchú, claimed: “I can’t help but think he was assassinated for his ideals.” Three suspects were later arrested. The news of Cabral’s death provoked an outpouring of grief from leading figures and musicians of the Spanish-speaking world who took to social media in their masses to pay their respects to the Argentine Maestro. A man who rose from poverty and illiteracy to become a leading voice of protest and beacon of hope to the Latin American nation.
