Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It's also not uncommon to hear music with Mexican influence in Guatemala, with the
occasional mariachi band contracted to liven up a birthday party. Tejano and
ranchera
mu-
sic can often be heard. You'll also hear American rock bands here and there, sometimes on
bus rides, though the sounds favored by bus drivers seem to have gotten stuck somewhere
around 1984.
On the Caribbean Coast, the Garífuna population tends to favor the mesmerizing beats
of
punta
and reggae, with variations including
punta rock
and
reggaeton,
English-Spanish
rap laid over slowed-down Caribbean-style techno and reggae beats.
Grammy award-winning rock musician Ricardo Arjona is Guatemala's best-known in-
ternationalrecordingartist.HelivesinMexicoCity.Spanish-languagepopandrockare,of
course, also widely heard throughout Guatemala.
TV and Cinema
Guatemala has its very own cable TV channel, Guatevisión, which can be seen in the Un-
ited States. It features a morning show based in Guatemala City as well as some fairly
humorous entertainment programs that provide a glimpse of the nightlife and outdoor re-
creation scene throughout the country. Guatemala even had a celebrity newscaster of sorts,
CNN's former Mexico City bureau chief Harris Whitbeck, who reported events around the
world in English and Spanish. One of his more recent projects is a local TV show,
Entré-
mosle a Guate
(Let's Get in on Guate), with profiles of everyday Guatemalans who make
the country a special place. He now has his own production company based out of Miami
and is the host of the Spanish version of
The Amazing Race
.
