Latin Grammy-winner named Peru's culture minister

[Judi Lynn]

Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Latin Grammy-winner named Peru's culture minister
The Associated Press

LIMA, Peru — Peru's president-elect has chosen acclaimed singer Susana Baca as culture minister.

Baca becomes the Andean nation's first black minister of government since independence from Spain in 1821.

Baca is the best-known voice of the rich musical and dance tradition of Afro-Peruvians, descendants of slaves brought in colonial times. The 67-year-old Baca won a Latin Grammy in 2002 for the album "Lamento Negro," which she'd recorded nearly two decades earlier in Cuba.

President-elect Ollanta Humala also named his education minister on Monday, the sociologist Patricia Salas.

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http://www.telegram.com/article/20110726/APE/307269974/-1/eworcester