The former leader of Los Huasos Quincheros and adherent to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, Benjamin Mackenna, died on Saturday at the age of 88. At the moment the causes of his death are unknown.
Mackenna was born on July 3, 1934. He studied law but dropped out in the middle of his degree. He joined the folk music group Los Huasos Quincheros in 1958.
Carlos Morgan, one of the founding members of the group, left Los Huasos Quincheros in 1964. After that, Mackenna assumed leadership.
Benjamin left the group in 2018.
Mackenna was also part of the board of the Cultural Corporation of Las Condes.
The musician suffered a stroke in February 2021, which reduced his health.
Declared Pinochet
In the political area, Mackenna was an avowed Pinochet supporter and participated in the Yes campaign, within the framework of the 1988 plebiscite.
“We never sought to be linked to the Pinochet government. I worked for a year and a half in the military government so that Chilean music would not be lost on the radio,” he said in 2017 in conversation with La Tercera.
“I declared myself a Pinochet supporter and then participated in the Yes campaign, but the Huasos Quincheros as a whole always kept their distance from politics. I was aligned with a movement that had all my enthusiasm,” he added.
“That was a remarkable period, the country couldn’t take it anymore. Now it is a past stage. Human rights problems are unforgivable,” he added.
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