Bety Ochoa

Composer and singer of cumbia accordion and walk in San Jacinto (Bolívar). In her youth she participated in various festivals singing with Andrés Landero, she especially remembers the Sabanero Festival in Arjona at the end of the 70s. Among others, she composed the song “Noche de luna Llena”, widely recognized in Mexico. In its origins cumbia is of African precedence, it seems to derive from the cumbé voice a popular dance from Guinea in the Batá area of Africa; over time it became a mestizo dance when subjected to indigenous and Hispanic influence. There are different types of traditional Colombian cumbias, among which two main ones can be identified: the cumbia de gaitas and the cumbia de accordion, with the voice dominating the second type. Bety sings to love and the hope of living in peace, showing the fear of death suffered in San Jacinto during the guerrilla captures in the 90s. The inhabitants of the town were left amidst the tensions of the army and the guerrillas, which is why which many were singled out, some left their lands and the youngest were forcibly recruited on both sides. Asked about peace, Bety smiled saying that luckily peace is already coming. Currently, she dedicates her time to her family and lives by selling handicrafts and food.