María Amparo Ochoa Castaños, (29 September 1946 in

Culiacán Culiacán, officially Culiacán Rosales, is a city in northwestern Mexico, the capital and largest city of both the Culiacán Municipality and the state of Sinaloa. The city was founded on 29 September 1531, by the Spanish Conquistadores, con ...

– 8 February 1994) better known as Amparo Ochoa, was a Mexican singer-songwriter. She was one of several other Mexican artists who emerged in the 1960s belonging to the

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

known as

Nueva canción Nueva canción (European , ; 'new song') is a left-wing social movement and musical genre in Latin America and the Iberian peninsula, characterized by folk-inspired styles and socially committed lyrics. ''Nueva canción'' is widely recognized to ...

. Ochoa was born in 1946 in the Mexican state of

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

. Before becoming involved in music, Ochoa served as an elementary school teacher. She became heavily involved in songwriting beginning in 1962, and her career took off when she won a contest in her native state with the song ''Hermosísimo Lucero''. In 1969, she moved to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

to attend the National Music School, a department of the

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

. Shortly after, she released her first album ''De la mano del viento''. Ochoa is best known for writing songs with strong messages against social injustice as well songs about Mexican history and culture. Most of her lyrics focus on poverty, indigenous rights, and women's rights. Amparo Ochoa visited Nicaragua as a distinguished personality who participated in the country's revolution anniversary in 1983. She performed along with

Gabino Palomares Gabino Palomares Gómez (born May 26, 1950. Comonfort, Guanajuato, México) is a Mexican singer-songwriter and a social and political activist. He is one of the main exponents of the nueva canción movement in Latin America, and one of the founder ...

''Maldición de Malinche'', a popular and touching song; its lyrics criticize the cultural proneness of many Latin Americans to revere white Europeans while despising indigenous people, an attitude inherited from the times of the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

. Amparo Ochoa died at the age of 48 of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

References

Amparo Ochoa Songs, Albums, Review, Bio & more - AllMusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochoa, Amparo 1946 births 1994 deaths Singers from Sinaloa Writers from Sinaloa People from Culiacán Mexican women singer-songwriters 20th-century Mexican women singers Deaths from cancer in Mexico