Research:2015-02-01/Journal article/hurricane-winds-vallenato-music-and-marijuana-traffic-in-colombias-first-illegal-drugs-boom

ResearchJournal article1 February 2015

Hurricane Winds: Vallenato Music and Marijuana Traffic in Colombia's First Illegal Drugs Boom

Lina Britto

Hispanic American Historical Review

A cultural history of how the first Colombian marijuana traffickers, the marimberos, promoted vallenato music and helped it reach a national market. The author describes parrandas, the traditional festivities, as a stage in the marijuana business that marked the end of one shipment and the start of the next, and sets out three forms of patronage: paying composers, paying performers and buying records in bulk. She presents the marimberos as at once outlaws and mainstream in their cultural practices. On the growing side she reports that Colombian gold, or Santa Marta golden, was adapted to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and nearby ranges, and that traders controlled growers through debt, credit and patron-client ties. The chapter on the same subject in her 2020 book is abridged from this article.

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DOI10.1215/00182168-2836916

CountryColombia

Growing regionNorthern Colombia

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Record created 2 November 2026maintained by landrace.wiki editorspage history

2015-02-01 2026-11-02 Hurricane Winds: Vallenato Music and Marijuana Traffic in Colombia's First Illegal Drugs Boom Journal article Culture Lina Britto Hispanic American Historical Review 2015 10.1215/00182168-2836916 https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-2836916 A cultural history of how the first Colombian marijuana traffickers, the marimberos, promoted vallenato music and helped it reach a national market. The author describes parrandas, the traditional festivities, as a stage in the marijuana business that marked the end of one shipment and the start of the next, and sets out three forms of patronage: paying composers, paying performers and buying records in bulk. She presents the marimberos as at once outlaws and mainstream in their cultural practices. On the growing side she reports that Colombian gold, or Santa Marta golden, was adapted to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and nearby ranges, and that traders controlled growers through debt, credit and patron-client ties. The chapter on the same subject in her 2020 book is abridged from this article. Colombia Northern Colombia