Paraguay seeks UNESCO recognition of “guarania”, its major musical genre

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Paraguayan government on Friday announced that it plans to submit a technical report on the guarania, its major musical genre, to UNESCO in 2022, with the aim of having it recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the organization.

The initiative arose some years ago from civil organizations such as “A puro canto” and the Ateneo Cultural José Asunción Flores, named after the genre’s creator, who placed “on the agenda the significance of recovering the guarania,” as the head of the National Secretariat of Culture (SNC), Rubén Capdevila, recalled this Friday.

The Paraguayan government has now revived efforts, with the precedent of having succeeded in late 2020 that UNESCO included in its list of Cultural Heritage of Humanity the “tereré” in the culture of “pohã ñana”, the traditional drink with yerba mate.

Capdevila, in a ceremony held at the Foreign Ministry, reaffirmed his commitment to “strengthen this work” and to “reinforce the agenda for the diffusion of guarania.”

“It is a musical genre of Paraguayans, created by Paraguayans, with the feeling of Paraguayans, with Guarani [language] as a key element and with elements of our culture and our very important history,” said the head of the SNC.

PARAGUAY’S SOUNDTRACK

The guarania, a musical genre created almost 96 years ago by musician Flores (1904-1972), is “the soundtrack of Paraguay,” as journalist Antonio Pecci, of the Ateneo Cultural, stated during the ceremony.

“At a time like this, when our nation is suffering, the guarania, once again, as in the harsh times in our history, is the balm of the Paraguayan soul. That is why it is so transcendent,” he added.

Pecci referred to culture as a “bridge to the profound transformation that Paraguay has long needed.”

For his part, Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo pointed out that the guarania is much more than a native “musical genre,” but represents “the whisper of the soul and the instinct of the people’s energy.”

Although Paraguay has just begun the bureaucratic procedures to secure UNESCO’s recognition, Acevedo expected “success” in the achievement of this project.

In reference to the popular legend that attributes to the French King Henry IV the phrase “Paris is worth a mass,” the Foreign Minister stressed that “the guarania will be worth much more than Paris.”

The ceremony at the Foreign Ministry was entertained by the String Ensemble of the Chamber Orchestra of the National Police, in homage to Flores.

The composer was persecuted by Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship (1954-1989) and died in exile in Buenos Aires, on May 16th, 1972, at the age of 67. His remains were repatriated in 1991, 2 years after the fall of Stroessner, to be placed in the Asunción square that bears his name.