February 26, 2017 - Cañoto

February 26, 2017

Cañoto

This was my favorite statue when I was here in the 1980s.  Today, an older and maybe a little more jaded, I don’t think it is one of the best made statues in the world, but I still love it.  I like the jaunty cowboy looking fellow carrying his guitar.  He speaks to me of the old west.  In Bolivia, that would be the old east.

But who is this guy?  I never thought to ask in the 1980s.  Now I want to know, so I can share it with you.

His name is José Manuel Baca.  He was born in 1790 in the province of Santa Cruz, sometime between October and December.  As a child, he studied grammar and letters, as well as some of the native Indian languages.  He developed a talent for the guitar, and composed his own songs and poems.

He gained recognition during the War of Independence in the 1810s.  He fought in the Battle of Pari in 1816, the bloodiest battle of all the battles of American independence, and maintained a guerrilla struggle against the loyalists throughout the war.  When the war was over and Bolivia gained its independence, he was sent to garrison a post in the east, because he was outspoken in his ideas of the new government.   

Eventually he was forced out of the military, where he retired to a farm to live out the rest of his years.

People who are outspoken about what is right never make it in a world of politicians.  Cañoto was no different.  It took another 100 years for him to be recognized for his participation in the struggle for independence.

To me, he will ever be the singing cowboy.

Adapted from an article on es.wikipedia.org.

You can read another exciting Bolivian legend in my newest book, Mojon con Cara.