Martina Portocarrero (29 September 1949 – 22 April 2022) was a Peruvian folk singer, cultural researcher, and politician. She was an interpreter of

huayno Huayno (Waynu in Quechua)Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary) is a genre of popular Andean music and dance. It is especially common in Peru, Bolivia, Northern Argentina ...

s and

muliza Muliza is a traditional music and dance style from Cerro de Pasco, Pasco region, Peru. Other sources mention that it was originated in Tarma, Junín region, disputing both cities the origin of the dance. Popularized at the end of the 19th centur ...

s, as well as a researcher of Andean culture. Portocarrero was posthumously honored by the

Peruvian government The Republic of Peru is a unitary state with a Multi-party system, multi-party semi-presidential system. The current government was established by the 1993 Constitution of Peru. The government is composed of three branches, being executive, judi ...

as (Meritorious Personality of Culture). During her political career, she ran unsuccessfully for various positions as a member of FREPAP, Broad Front, and Free Peru.

Biography

Leonila Martina Portocarrero Ramos was born in

Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; qu, Naska) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. It is also the name of the largest existing town in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in ...

, Peru, on 29 September 1949. In 1970, she entered the in Lima. She studied at the Escuela de Nacional de Arte Dramático, as well as at the National University of San Marcos, but it was in Switzerland where she graduated from university as an educator. In the 1908s, she began her career as a soloist, performing huaynos throughout Peru. Around 1984, she traveled to Europe, introducing Latin American music in European festivals. In 1986, she settled in Switzerland and continued spreading the folklore and traditional art of Peru. Her interpretation of the Ayacucho huayno song "", composed by Ricardo Dolorier, which refers to the Huanta student rebellion of 1969, was well known. Portocarrero was twice a pre-candidate for the presidency of the Republic, in 2001 for FREPAP, withdrawing before the election, and in 2016, for Broad Front, being defeated in the internal elections by the anthropologist

Verónika Mendoza Verónika Fanny Mendoza Frisch (born 9 December 1980) is a Peruvian-French psychologist, educator, and politician. She is the founder and current leader of the New Peru movement. Born in Cuzco to a Peruvian father and French mother, Mendoz ...

. In 2006, Portocarrero was a candidate for

mayor of Lima The following is a list of Lima's mayors through the 20th and 21st centuries. '' Alcaldes ordinarios'' of the first and the second vote Mayors of Lima See also * Timeline of Lima {{Peru lists Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded ...

for the

Union for Peru Union for Peru ( es, Unión por el Perú) was a Peruvian political party founded by Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, an ex- UN Secretary General, in 1994 to run for the Presidency of Peru in the 1995 general elections. Originally a social democratic pa ...

party, obtaining only 4.63% of the votes. In 2016 and 2020, Portocarrero ran for Congress for the Broad Front party. In 2021, she ran with the political party Free Peru but was excluded by the

National Jury of Elections The National Jury of Elections (''Jurado Nacional de Elecciones'', JNE) of Peru is an autonomous constitutional organ, headquartered in Lima. Its goal is to oversee the legality of electoral processes, guaranteeing the respect for the population' ...

. Portocarrero formed her own political group, the . She was touted as a possible (Minister of Culture) during the beginning of the governments of Ollanta Humala and Pedro Castillo. Martina Portocarrero died on 22 April 2022, in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a result of lung cancer. In May 2022, the Peruvian government posthumously awarded her the recognition of Meritorious Personality of Culture.

Discography

* 1982: ''Canto a la Vida''. Stereo LP.001, Discos Retama * 1987: ''Martina en vivo - Teatro Municipal''. – Lima, CD Vol. 1 * 1993: ''Maíz''. Discos Raymi, CD Vol. 2 * 2001: ''El Canto de las Palomas''. CD Vol. 3, Retama producciones * 2012: ''Carita de Manzana''. Martina Portocarrero & Retama Producciones

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portocarrero, Martina 1949 births 2022 deaths Peruvian folk singers 20th-century Peruvian women singers 20th-century Peruvian singers 21st-century Peruvian women singers 21st-century Peruvian singers 21st-century Peruvian politicians 21st-century Peruvian women politicians Agricultural People's Front of Peru politicians Union for Peru politicians Free Peru politicians Deaths from lung cancer in Switzerland National University of San Marcos alumni People from Ica Region Peruvian expatriates in Switzerland