By Andres Kogan Valderrama
HAVANA TIMES – The recent controversy surrounding narcoculture in Chile, sparked by a column written by Chilean sociologist Alberto Mayol, in which he questions the organizers of the Viña del Mar Festival* for bringing an artist like Peso Pluma and explicitly stating a “public-private alliance to promote narco,” seems to me to close the possibility of debating the core issue, which is the existing drug policy.
I mention this because focusing the controversy on the lyrics of a specific artist, and whether or not they should perform in a public show, not only gives more publicity to the message one seeks to prohibit but also obscures what lies behind narcoculture – a war on drugs that has been historically a resounding failure in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It would seem like a bad joke that our leaders are now considering starting a war against narcoculture, censoring any cultural expression defined as pro-drug trafficking. This would undoubtedly lead to a long list of artists and groups from various musical styles.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t question the lyrics of countless artists who trivialize physical, sexual, and criminal violence, as well as organize
