Serrat y Sabina: el símbolo y el cuate

Joan Manuel Serrat fled to Mexico when Franco ordered his persecution. In Argentina and Chile, his commitment against military regimes is still remembered. Joaquín Sabina arrived later. His poetry bewitched the audience. In Argentina, he is a tango singer as much as a rocker; in Mexico, the mariachis sing their songs. The former is a symbol, a venerated figure; the latter is a “cuate,” as they say in Mexico, a buddy with whom you can always count.