BUENOS AIRES (AFP) – Argentina bade farewell Wednesday to one of its most beloved entertainers, the folk singing troubadour Facundo Cabral, who was gunned down at the weekend in Guatemala at the age of 74.
The body of the La Plata-born native, who was famously nomadic, was taken to a cemetery 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Buenos Aires for cremation at an intimate private ceremony with just family and close friends in attendance.
The size of the gathering was in stark contrast to the huge outpouring of emotion seen across the region since Cabral was shot and killed by gunmen on Saturday evening on his way to the main international airport in Guatemala.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner announced three days of national mourning and fans turned up in their droves to pay final respects as Cabral's coffin was displayed in the Teatro ND Ateneo in the heart of Buenos Aires after his body was flown home from Guatemala on Tuesday.
"His homeland was not Argentina but the entire world," said Maria del Carmen, 70, on a street jammed with television trucks. "I had to be here: he died for peace and love."
The closed coffin, which lay in state for more than 24 hours before the cremation ceremony, was draped in an Argentine flag and flowers from fans littered the floor. Cabral's widow, Venezuelan psychologist Silvia Pousa, has not revealed what will be done with his ashes.
Officials believe Cabral's promoter and driver, Nicaraguan businessman Henry Farina, was the real target of Saturday's attack, which sources say may have been drug-related.
Farina, who was wounded in the shooting, is recovering in hospital under heavy police guard, and is considered a key witness.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz said Elkin Hernandez had led the band of gunmen, while the second suspect, Wilfred Arnold, managed a nightclub owned by Farina and is accused of masterminding the attack.
A global nomad who claimed to have visited 150 countries and said he was deeply inspired by the US poet Walt Whitman, Cabral's music was largely about peace, love and everyday pleasures and pain.
His songs include the 1970s hit "I'm not from here nor there" and are frequently performed by other Spanish-language performers. He was deemed "World Peace Messenger" in 1996 by UNESCO.
The broad daylight attack sent shockwaves through Latin America, taking down one of the region's undisputed stars and shining a spotlight on the murky underworld of Guatemala's lawless maras or drug gangs.
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