Despite 500 years of European colonization and the systematic attempts to belittle or even destroy native culture, indigenous music is alive and well in Latin America. Today's program , Indigenous Beats,looks at grass roots musicians specializing in the music of indigenous communities, often fused with modern instruments and genre: 1) In Argentina, the Mapuche community, its numbers and presence massively reduced, still preserve their culture, largely through music, which has been the vehicle through which their language survives. 2) In Chile, preserving the music of the Aymara-speaking indigenous people has been Osvaldo Torres' calling for the past four decades. Torres contributes to continuing the resistance of the native peoples with his music. 3) In Guatemala, young musicians of the group Baktun Cero seek to fuse modern rhythms with six Mayan languages and traditional instruments. teleSUR
