''Viva América'' was an American musical radio program which was broadcast live over the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) type ...

and to North and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

over the La Cadena de las Américas (Network of the Americas) during the 1940s (1942–1949) in support of

Pan-Americanism Pan-Americanism is a movement that seeks to create, encourage, and organize relationships, associations and cooperation among the states of the Americas, through diplomatic, political, economic, and social means. History Following the indepen ...

during World War II. It was also broadcast for the benefit of members of the armed forces in Europe during World War II over the

Armed Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...

. All broadcasts of this program were supervised under the strict government supervision of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

and the

Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, later known as the Office for Inter-American Affairs, was a United States agency promoting inter-American cooperation (Pan-Americanism) during the 1940s, especially in commercial and econ ...

(OCIAA) as part of the

United States Cultural Exchange Programs United States cultural exchange programs, particularly those programs with ties to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State, seek to develop cultural understanding between United States citize ...

cultural diplomacy Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose ...

initiative authorized by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

(via

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

through the Office for Coordination of Commercial and Cultural Relations (OCCCRBAR) and the

directed by

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

This imaginative program represented a unique collaboration between government and private industry during the turbulent

era in an effort to foster cultural exchanges and

throughout the Americas as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's

Good Neighbor policy The Good Neighbor policy ( ) was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt towards Latin America. Although the policy was implemented by the Roosevelt administration, President Woodrow Wilson had pr ...

. It featured live performances of the CBS Pan American Orchestra under the musical direction of the noted conductor

Alfredo Antonini Alfredo Antonini (May 31, 1901 – November 3, 1983) was a leading Italian-American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the ea ...

. By 1945, performances by the orchestra on the CBS "La Cadena de los Americas" radio network were enjoyed by audiences in twenty Latin American nations and throughout North America. Viva América was primarily conceived in an effort to foster benevolent diplomatic relations throughout the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

during

by showcasing the talents of a wide variety of respected professional musicians from both North and South America. In this regard, it proved to be highly successful and functioned under the direct supervision of the Department of State as a cultural exchange program (as opposed to a propaganda program). The collaborative performances by musicians who were featured on the program also served to introduce large audiences in the United States to innovative forms of Latin music including the Mexican

Bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

. Included among the renowned soloists were:

Juan Arvizu Juan Nepomuceno Arvizu Santelices (known as Juan Arvizu; Santiago de Querétaro, May 22, 1900 - Mexico City, November 19, 1985), was an acclaimed lyric tenor in Mexico and a noted interpreter of the Latin American bolero and tango on the internati ...

(the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

"Tenor with the Silken Voice");

Nestor Mesta Chayres Néstor Mesta Cháyres (aka Nestor Chaires, Ciudad Lerdo, February 26, 1908 - Mexico City, June 29, 1971) was an acclaimed tenor in Mexico and a noted interpreter of Spanish songs, boleros and Mexican romantic music on the international concert ...

(

tenor - aka "El Gitano De México");

Eva Garza Eva Garza (May 11, 1917 – November 1, 1966) was a Mexican-American singer and film actress who acquired international recognition in the 1940s and 1950s during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. She collaborated on live radio shows and films wit ...

(

songstress);

Terig Tucci Terig Tucci (June 23, 1897 – February 28, 1973) was an Argentine composer, violinist, pianist, and mandolinist. Tucci was born in Buenos Aires, in 1897. His first composition, “Cariños de madre” was performed for a zarzuela at the A ...

, (

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

composer/arranger)

Miguel Sandoval Miguel Sandoval (born November 16, 1951) is an American actor of film and television. Biography Sandoval was born in Washington, D.C. He began working as a professional actor in 1975 when he joined a mime school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. H ...

(Guatemalan composer/conductor),

Elsa Miranda Elsa M. Miranda (14 February 1922 – 27 April 2007) was a noted Puerto Rican singer who was featured on radio and television in the United States during the Golden Age of Radio in the 1940s. As a naturalized Argentinian, she was also active as ...

(Puerto Rican Vocalist/Actress), Los Panchos Trio (Latin vocalists) and

John Serry, Sr. John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voice ...

(an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

concert accordionist and featured soloist). Broadcasts of this program were personally supervised by

Edmund A. Chester Edmund Albert Chester, Sr. - (June 22, 1897 – October 14, 1973) - was a senior Vice President and executive at the CBS radio and television networks during the 1940s. As Director of Latin American Relations he collaborated with the Department ...

, Vice President at the

network and Director of Latin-American Relations and Short Wave Broadcasting (1940 - 1948). Mr. Chester could often be found visiting the control room at the

broadcast studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in order to enjoy his series of live concerts and to exchange insights with his staff of musicians and recording artists. At the governmental level, they were closely monitored by the Office of Inter-American Affairs through the Office for Coordination of Commercial and Cultural Relations (OCCCRBAR) under the direction of

and the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

. The onset of the post World War II era precipitated the onset of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and the initiation of new governmental oversight of the broadcast industry. As a consequence of these developments, exclusive control for the La Cadena de las Americas was essentially transferred to the Department of State from Voice of America in 1948.''The New York Times'', July 2, 1948, pg. 1 As the focal point for American foreign policy shifted away from

toward

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

broadcasts of this program were terminated (circa 1949) and the broadcasting links provided to South America by the Columbia Broadcast System

were eliminated.. Several historic master disk transcriptions of this program were recorded during live broadcasts and preserved on 78 RPM vinyl disks for

. They were archived by the Department of State until the 1970s and have since passed into private collections.

References

External links

Archive.org - Album - ''Tres Palabras'' - CBS Pan American Orchestra - Conductor Alfredo AntoniniArchive.org - Album - ''Esta Noche Ha Pasado'' - CBS Pan American Orchestra - Conductor Alfredo Antonini Archive.org - Album - ''La Palma''; ''Rosa Negra''
- CBS Viva America Orchestra and Los Panchos Trio - Conductor Alfredo Antonini
Archive.org - Album -''Granada'' (Agustin Lara)- Performed by Nestor Chayres and the Alfredo Antonini Orchestra (1946) on Archive.orgArchive.org - Album -''Noche de Ronda'' (Maria Teresa Lara) Performed by Nestor Chayres and the Alfredo Antonini Orchestra (1946) on Archive.orgFrontera.library.ucla.edu - ''Asi'', ''Esta Noche Ha Pasado'',''Somos Differentes'' and ''Tres Palabras'' - Sound recordings of Alfredo Antonini conducting the CBS Pan American Orchestra with vocalist Luis G. Roldan at the University of California Los Angeles on fronter.library.ucla.eduWorldCat.Org Library holdings worldwide of audio albums by The Viva America OrchestraWorldCat.Org Library holdings for The Viva America Orchestra: Conductor Alfredo AntoniniLibrary of Congress holding of ''Latin American Music'' - Viva America Orchestra: Conductor Alfredo Antonini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viva America American music radio programs United States Department of State 1940s American radio programs CBS Radio programs Cultural exchange