"Tiburón" (

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''

Shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

'') is a

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

song by

Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...

and

Willie Colón William Anthony Colón Román (born April 28, 1950) is a Puerto Rican and American Salsa musician and social activist. He began his career as a trombonist but also sings, writes, produces and acts. Colón was a pioneer of Salsa music and a be ...

which appeared on their 1981 album '' Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos.'' The song is a metaphor for American intervention in Latin America, with the titular shark representing the influence of

American imperialism U.S. imperialism or American imperialism is the expansion of political, economic, cultural, media, and military influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright mi ...

in the region. The song opens by evoking the sounds of a Caribbean beach, which then comes under threat by a shark hunting for victims. Throughout the second half of the song, the singers shout the phrase, "si lo ven que viene, ¡palo al tiburón!" ("If you see him coming, ring astick to the shark!"). The lyrics specifically call for protecting "our sister El Salvador", in reference to US involvement in then ongoing

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War () was a twelve-year civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador, backed by the United States, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of left-wing guer ...

. The shark metaphor has been described as being inspired by Juan Jose Arévalo's 1956 book ''The Shark and the Sardines''.

Reception

Music critic

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born ) is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of '' Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone'', and has published num ...

listed "Tiburón" as one of his top 20 political songs written after 1976, calling it "the original anti-Central America invasion protest." At the time of its release, it received little airplay in the US because of its controversial political message, with Blades being accused of sympathizing with communism and becoming particularly unpopular with the Cuban community in Miami. Blades would later state that "I was out of the radio for fifteen years in he USbecause of ‘Tiburon’.” In a 1991 interview, Colón said that politically charged songs like "Tiburón" and " Pedro Navaja" were so controversial that he and Blades occasionally performed them in bulletproof vests. Blades confirmed that "the purpose of the song was to express my - and our - dislike for intervention sm in reaction to US foreign policy in Latin America, and characterized it as "an

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

song". However, he sought to distance himself from radical Anti-Americanism among the Latin American Left, stressing that "Tiburón" is "not a song that can be applied exclusively to the US" by noting that it also lent itself to criticism of the United Kingdom in the 1982

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, and that it would have equally well have applied to a hypothetical Russian military intervention in Latin America.

References

{{Rubén Blades Songs in Spanish Rubén Blades songs 1981 songs Songs written by Rubén Blades Willie Colón songs Anti-war songs Songs about the United States Central America solidarity movement