Music piece by:

Graciela Arango de Tobón, popularised in Chile by Giolito y su Combo, and by Los Vikings 5

Testimony by:

Joaquín Real Hermosilla

Experience in:

Campamento de Prisioneros Las Bandurrias, actual Regimiento Bulnes, Coyhaique, September 1973

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From that troubled time, I would like to remember an activity that kept us active during the harsh confinement in Las Bandurrias. It is about music, an artistic expression that revealed the talent of several political prisoners and allowed us to endure the confinement for almost six months.

One of the most celebrated songs among the detainees was a cumbiaColombian music genre and dance, with roots in European, Indigenous and African music traditions. that was adapted to a situation that had us very worried. Let's not forget that we were forced to take care of the cleanliness of the purebred horses in the camp, and the lieutenant had warned that we had to take good care of them because if one died, two detainees would lose their lives.

The nervousness began when one of the horses, who was already very old, fell ill. He was thin and listless, lay around all day and refused to go out into the yard. When we found out that ‘Don Goyo’, as the horse was called, was no longer responsive, we did everything we could to save his life.

We called in the agricultural professionals who were among the prisoners, but to no avail. The animal died, causing stomach pains and fear among the detainees as they remembered the lieutenant's fatal warning. Fortunately for us, the lieutenant had left the kennel.

Once we had recovered, in one of our artistic meetings, we modified the lyrics of the cumbia ‘Ese muerto no lo cargo yo’ (The Dead Man Won't Be Pinned on Me), also known as ‘Don Goyo’. The arrangement went something like this:

They found Don Goyo
dead in Las Bandurrias
many years tired him out
they found him very early
that he was killed out of jealousy
that's what they told me
I wasn’t in Las Bandurrias
when Don Goyo died.

The dead man won't be pinned on me
may his death be pinned on the threatening man
The dead man won't be pinned on me
Don Goyo won't be pinned on me.