Colombian singer Carlos Vives vindicates the Hispanic American identity and assures that “the United States should be proud” that those who come from the rest of the Americas are its neighbors, highlighting the historical contribution of those who migrated to “help build this country”.
“We are all Americans,” said the singer from Santa Marta (north) in a virtual interview with EFE, who maintains that his policy is to defend a musical trajectory that speaks of Colombia and is created from cultural diversity.
For Vives, his songs have always been a celebration of his origins: “Our music was a celebration of the diversity of our identity, our Hispanic identity, our American identity, the indigenous culture, the mestizaje with Spanish,” he said.
He recalls that he chose to make local music, with no expectations of leaving, but that it was precisely outside the country, specifically in the United States, where he understood that it was the Colombian, Venezuelan, Ecuadorian and Mexican migrants themselves, among others, who took those songs with them and turned them into a meeting point, an experience that confirmed to him that, beyond borders, there is a common background that unites the peoples of the Americas.
“I chose to sing vallenatos and from there invent our modernity with our traditions. Our music tells everything, what Spain put, what America had, what Africa brought, that is my policy,” he explained.
In this line, Vives regrets that cultural differences are often used as a reason for confrontation and gives as an example the distance that today is marked between Colombia and Venezuela: “Losing the cultural battle is just that, fighting over an arepa (traditional food based on corn dough) when before we were one and ate the same”.
The musician defends the role of art as a tool to restore people’s identity and so that they can “know who they are, value and love themselves”, which, he believes, politics does not achieve with the same strength as songs.
Carlos Vives and support for Latinos in the U.S.
Regarding violence in Colombia, Vives regrets that this situation “has always been like this” and attributes it to “an identity problem” that crosses generations.
“It is as if we were permanent adolescents. Politics keeps dividing us as if we have to have one at odds with the other. We are very backward,” he says.
After eight years without touring Colombia, Vives announced 15 days ago that he will return to the stages of his country with ‘Tour al sol’, a show that covers his musical career and comes loaded with symbolism, as it proposes a journey that connects the past and the present.
“It is the ellipse between ‘La tierra del olvido’, which is 30 years old, and this new album. It is a trip to our inner self, with the happiness of showing something that today I feel we do better”, detailed the singer.
The tour, which will also take Vives to Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico between April and June, will stop in six Colombian cities during the second half of 2026.
Vives will perform in Ibagué on September 18; Bogotá, on September 25 and 27; Bucaramanga, on October 16; Medellín, the following day; Pereira, on November 6; and Cali, 15 days later.
In addition, the artist also confirmed presentations in Quito and Guayaquil (Ecuador) on September 3 and 5.
Looking to the future, the artist assures that his path goes beyond records and stages and is also linked to social and cultural work in the places that formed him.
He explains that much of his energy is focused on his foundation in Santa Marta, in the delta of the Grande de la Magdalena River, where cumbia was born, and in popular neighborhoods such as Pescaíto, marked by vulnerability, micro-trafficking and child prostitution, but also by a strong cultural tradition.
Musically, he says he will not stop creating, training new musicians and continuing to dream, in Colombia and also in Spain, where he assures that he still has “many things to do,” reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
