Los Paraguayos, Chapter 1 (1953-1956)

Folk (guarania) trio assembled to introduce Paraguayan music to Europe.

On November 24, 1953 President Chaves and Finance Minister Velloso signed Executive Decree No. 1736 which promised each artist the sum of 3200 dollars to spread Paraguayan music in Europe. Although harpist Digno Garcia and singer/guitarists Agustín Barboza and Luis Alberto del Parana were well-known on their native continent and had, in fact, already performed in this combination before (under the same/similar name, no less), they were unknown in the old world.

Travelling on diplomatic passports, the Trio Los Paraguayos arrived via the Italian port of Genoa in May 1954, with one of their first performances being the song India on Vatican Radio. They eventually found their way to Antwerp, Belgium where they were signed to Philips, outputting a number of recordings for the label and achieving a gold record a year later for sales in Europe.

Once the Official Cultural Mission was over in 1956, the trio split up but remained in Europe: Agustín went on to do various loose projects, Digno signed to Palette and made a string of records, and Luis continued the legacy with his new group, Luis Alberto del Parana y Los Paraguayos.