Juan de los Santos Contreras; April 7, 1928 – December 10, 2002), was a Venezuelan singer. He was a

llanero A (, ‘plainsman’) is a South American herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela. During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in both ar ...

, specialising in the music of the Orinoco floodplains. He was better known by his stage name El Carrao de Palmarito which identifies him as the "

limpkin The limpkin (''Aramus guarauna''), also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a large wading bird related to rails and cranes, and the only extant species in the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the America ...

" (a bird with a piercing call;

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Carrao'', Latin: ''Aramus guarauna'') of Palmarito, his hometown. He became well known in the 1950s, making radio broadcasts and releasing his first disc on the Velvet label. His most famous songs include the duet ''Florentino y el Diablo'' (based on the poema by

Alberto Arvelo Torrealba Alberto Arvelo Torrealba (September 3, 1905 – March 28, 1971), was a Venezuelan lawyer, educator and folklorical poet. He was author oFlorentino y El Diablo which was set to music as a duet in the style known as ''contrapunteo''. Legacy A Alb ...

), ''Aquella mujer que amé, Furia, Chaparralito llanero, Cajón del Arauca apureño, Llanura yo soy tu hijo, Plegaria llanera, Travesía de San Camilo, Faenas del llano, Dulce María, Mis retoños, El morrocoy de doña Carmen, Caminito de Arichuna, Recorriendo a Barinas, Los martirios del Carrao, El sueño de Julio Verne, Villavicencio''. Contreras received many awards, including Venezuela's National Prize of Popular Culture in 1998.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrao de Palmarito, El 1928 births 2002 deaths Venezuelan composers Male composers Venezuelan folk singers 20th-century Venezuelan male singers 20th-century composers People from Apure