Puerto Rico: Calle 13 Reach New Heights with Music Video · Global Voices
Alfredo Richner

With more than 2 million views since being uploaded to YouTube a week ago, music group Calle 13's new video “Latinoamérica” [es] has found widespread acclaim online and around the world.
The clip, co-directed by Jorge Carmona and Milovan Radovic, begins with the Puerto Rican duo of brothers René Pérez Joglar (Residente) and Eduardo José Cabra Martínez (Visitante) visiting a small Peruvian radio station in the mountains, where they are introduced by a Quechua-speaking discjockey. It then alternates between clips of Latin American people and landscapes, as well as several animated segments which allude to the lyrics “vamos dibujando el camino” (we are drawing the way as we go) [es].
A couple of blogs from the Puerto Rican blogosphere have commented on the video. Ivonne Acosta Lespier, from the blog Sin Mordazas [es,] wrote:
En lo alto de los Andes, en tierra Inca, nuestros embajadores de buena voluntad René Pérez (Residente) y su hermano Eduardo Cabra (Visitante), censurados en su propia tierra, cantan lo que quisieran que nuestra gente escuchara a “las caras más bonitas que he conocido” que resultan ser los olvidados del mundo en la era del capitalismo salvaje.
She adds:
El estribillo podría ser un himno para cantarle a los desarrollistas preferidos por este Gobierno que se canta “verde” pero destruye la naturaleza de nuestra Isla para venderle terrenos, incluyendo los que antes estaban protegidos, al mejor postor y ganar millones.
PuertoRicoIndie.com, which recently posted an essay [es] comparing Calle 13's ‘Latinoamérica’ to a song by the ever-popular Mexican rock group Maná, that shares the same name, had this to say about the video:
Una colaboración entre los directores Jorge Carmona y Milovan Radovic, el vídeo captura la diversidad del continente, encontrando su esencia entre su gente y sus paisajes. Logra esto con la misma efectividad que lo hacen la música y letras del tema – René Pérez y Eduardo Cabra reconocen que el tema es más grande que ellos dos y que el trabajó está en documentar. Tampoco se trata de sorpresas, si no de un reflejo – de la historia, de la realidad, de la actualidad.
René “Residente” Pérez, who has spent the week actively promoting the video through his Twitter account, @Calle13Oficial [es] proudly proclaimed to his millions of followers:
el video de #Latinoamerica en menos de 1 semana llegara a los 2 millones de views,sin sonar en la radio.
He later added:
El video de”Latinoamérica” llegó a las 2 millones de visitas..Gracias a VEVO por nada..jeje..
The video for “Latinoamérica” was uploaded directly to YouTube by the group, eschewing the popular music video syndication platform VEVO, which is used by many international artists and is co-owned by Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media.
Calle 13 was recently nominated in a record-setting 10 categories for the 2011 Latin Grammy Awards, including “Song of the Year” and “Record of the Year” for “Latinoamérica.