Santiago. The Municipal Council of Councilors of the City Council of this city declared the typical merengue as “Cultural Heritage of Santiago”, protected by resolution number 3315-22.
The declaration carried out on the 20th of this month, and released this Thursday, was made by the aforementioned council, accepting the request of the Department of Culture of the Santiago mayor’s office led by Dr. Yanilsa Cruz.
By publicizing the initiative, Cruz said that with this they seek to give strength to the typical merengue, and that on Friday, December 30, they will present the show “Santiago is merengue”, in the Plaza Valerio park, in line with the resolution, since they have a project that seeks to rescue the cultural identity of the true ancestors of the ripiao parakeet.
In his Instagram account, the teacher Jochy Sánchez appreciated the initiative of the mayor’s office. “Applause for the management of Dr. Yanilsa Cruz from the Santiago City Council. We began to recognize the meringue!, he expressed.
Recitals of the resolution
Among the recitals of the resolution that supports the declaration, issued by the aforementioned Council of Aldermen, they highlight that according to article 1 and literal H of article 19 of Law 176-07 of the National District and the municipalities establishes that the municipalities have the objective of preserving historical and cultural heritage.
To execute the declaration, the council also considered that the merengue is the national dance par excellence, and that today it constitutes one of the essential hallmarks of Dominican identity.
The Municipal Council of Councilors also took into account that the cradle of merengue is located in the north of the Dominican Republic and its area of influence covers the Caribbean region, as well as Puerto Rico, the United States of America.
Likewise, he supported his decision to declare the typical merengue as “Cultural Heritage of Santiago” in the fact that in this city, specifically in the La Joya sector, the name of perico ripiao al merengue típico arises, and that it was in this city, in the facilities of the old Hotel Mercedes, where a ballroom merengue composed by Luis Alberti, titled compadre Pedro Juan, was danced for the first time.
They also took into account that the preservation of merengue is part of the cultural policy of the Dominican State in the effort to permanently promote a favorable environment for the rise of the most important national musical rhythm, and that merengue is the most determining musical binding of Dominicanness. and the most deeply rooted and fundamental cultural manifestation of the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic.
“Considering that the house where the name Perico ripiao al merengue arose, located on Independencia street in the sector, the jewel of our city of Santiago, was identified and rescued. It resolves to declare how it declares the typical merengue as Cultural Heritage of Santiago”, reads the aforementioned resolution.
Previously, the mayor’s office of Santiago paid tribute to the trajectory of the typical music of the merengueros Robert Liriano, La India canela, José el calvo, Lupe Valerio, Krisspy, Nicol Peña, María Díaz, Agapito Pascual, Rafelito Román, Francisco Ulloa, the Reynoso trio, and a posthumous tribute to General Larguito, depicting a mural on Juan Goico alix street in the city of Santiago.
