'My Little Donkey (Mi Burrito Sabanero)': The Unjust Story of a Carol that Bisbal Has Made a Success This Christmas

Hugo Blanco, a composer from Caracas, began it all. As a child, he would sneak into radio stations to watch musicians up close. In 1972, at just over 30 years old, he composed 'El burrito de Belén', a carol that went unnoticed for three years. It was recorded by La Rondallita, featuring members of the Venezuela Children's Choir. The solo voice belonged to eight-year-old Ricardo Cuenci. The song quickly gained popularity, initially in Venezuela, then in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Chile, and now among the Latin American diaspora. However, neither Ricardo nor the rest of the group received any payment for the recording.

At 57, Ricardo Cuenci proudly reflects on that adventure. "It was a very beautiful experience, quite a surprise, with the tour in Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, here in Venezuela... As a child, one is amazed to board a plane, sing to people, and sign autographs. It's a joy that never fades." In numerous interviews, he often repeats a phrase like a mantra: "Here is Ricardo Cuenci for everything, from the heart, here present." Nearly half a century after that cover photo, riding a white donkey on the outskirts of El Junquito, a mountainous area near Caracas, he asserts, "I would record the song again under the same circumstances because it is for the people, for my country, for the world. I am proud to be a singer."

When Cuenci stated in a 2022 interview that neither he nor his companions had earned "not even half a bolívar," the song and the singer returned to the spotlight. Another artist, Manuel Mirabal, a lawyer and former national director of Copyright, explained that the singer is not entitled to royalties because, until 1993, Venezuelan law did not include performers, only authors. In Spain, 'Mi burrito sabanero' has become the hit of this Christmas, thanks to the ubiquitous version by David Bisbal, husband of Venezuelan actress and model Rosanna Zanetti, to the point of generating memes on social media. TikTok highlights the moment when actress Donna Reed ('It's a Wonderful Life') destroys the record with a displeased expression. But social media has also brightened Ricardo Cuenci's life: "People stop me on the street, they recognize me..." He finds Bisbal's version "extraordinary. I would like to tell him, 'let's record it together, let's give music a go'." Cuenci acknowledges that none of the performers who have covered 'Mi burrito sabanero' have contacted him, "neither Puerto Rican Gilberto Santa Rosa nor Ricardo Montaner"; the list should include Juanes, Elvis Crespo, Gaby Moreno with Calexico, the Mexican band Lost Acapulco in an instrumental surfer style, and Samantha Hudson in an electropop key, among others. It has even become popular as an LGBTQ icon, thanks to social media.

'Mi burrito sabanero' is a 100% Venezuelan song: the donkey comes from the Gran Sabana, an agricultural region in the southeast of the country, where it is used as a means of transport; the child sings with the cuatro, the small Venezuelan guitar so present from the first chords. It is the story of a child who could have joined the Puerto Rican children's group Maduro, alongside a certain Ricky Martin, to which his father, a musician in a llanero group, objected. But "here remains Ricardo Cuenci, present, for everything, from the heart."