“Because tomorrow the boulevard will open”. The exile experience of Chilean musicians in Mexico: a space for the political-musical resistance of Chilean New Song

The exile of the groups and musicians of Nueva Canción Chilena (NCCh, or Chilean New Song) in the context of Pinochet's military dictatorship is one of the most researched cases in studies on Latin American “musical exiles”. However, most of the analyses focus on groups exiled in European countries, without considering the careers of several singers and musical ensembles in different countries within Latin America. Hence, this article examines the experiences of musicians who were exiled in Mexico, a country that sheltered an important community of exiled Chileans. Through oral testimonies, documentary sources and discography, we analyse their exile experiences, focusing on the case of Ángel Parra and the group Illapu, referents of NCCh. Thinking of Mexico as a space of political-musical resistance based on the place that popular music had in the political life of Chilean exiles would allow us to incorporate it within a sort of “musical exile cartography” that the gradual expansion of the field has configured.