What is and what is not Colombian

Have have a great deal of sadness knowing that there is a large faction within the Ministry of Culture that does not consider “classical” music as something Colombian. The orchestra is seen as some sort of European elitist bastard that has nothing to do with Colombian culture, with Colombian music. What kind of nonsense is that? What kind of ignorance have we sown? I think there may be a simple way of getting these skeptics to think twice about such a position. We can just exclude any European instrument from the stage and any kind of European influenced music from the “Colombian” music. For example, we can start with the llanero harp. That was brought over and modified. So no harp. Bambucos, influenced by Spanish dances that were brought over… out! Let’s not forget the percussion brought here from Africa…not Colombian. The gaiteros who play with clarinets, no: European. I am just getting started. Lucho Bermudes, not Colombian…big band take-away. Let’s talk about this.