The iconic Mexican singer Paquita la del Barrio caused one of those minor celebrity scandals when she admitted a few weeks ago that she has performed for narcos, and isn't shamed by that in the least: "I've performed for drug dealers. They're cultured people. My respect goes out to them."
She added that one "doesn't realize it until you get there." In any case, her comments reflect the double-mind that artists face in a society touched top-to-botttom by the narco cartels. Sing for them when they ask you to, or face consequences for turning them down. Or worse.
'Plata o plomo,' as they say. 'Money or gunshot.'
Take the case that Paquita was reacting to when she made her "work is work" comments -- the arrest of a colleague. Norteño singer Ramon Ayala and several other performers were detained during a raid of an exclusive narco party in Tepoztlan in mid-December. Ayala is currently serving 40 days of "preventive" jail time, authorities said. The singer apparently missed the community-friendly "festival of lights" he puts on for the kids in his home city of Hidalgo, Texas.
* Above, Paquita doing her incomparable hit, "Rata de Dos Patas."