Born and raised in Portobelo, Panama Raúl Orlando Jiménez Delgado was selected to play the role of Major Devil in the Congo tradition of Portobelo in 1982 when Carlos Chavarria took a sabatical from the role to study abroad in Russia. Just as Celedonio Molinar brought the tradition of "Blessing the Devil" back to Portobelo and taught Raul's father, Andres Jiménez, how to perform the symobolic role of priest in the tradition, he also mentored Raul in how to performance the role of Major Devil. Raul is also responsible for conceiving of and helping to initiate El Festival de Los Diablos y Congo, which is now on of Portobelo, Panama's most popular biennial cultural events.  

Raul  Orlando  Jimenez: Major Devil in the Congo Tradition of Portobelo, Panama 2001

Digital Portobelo is a cultural preservation and collaborative research initiative that focuses on Portobelo, Panama--an Afro-Latin community located on the Caribbean coast of the Republic of Panama. It represents the second phase of UNC Assistant Professor Renee Alexander Craft's critical ethnographic project that began in 2000. The first phase is represented through her monograph entitled When the Devil Knocks: The Congo Tradition and the Politics of Blackness in 20th Century Panama, which has been accepted for publication as part of Ohio State University's "Black Performance and Cultural Criticism" series. As a collaborative, interdisciplinary, digital humanities initiative, the project seeks to make the process and products of research more available and accessible beyond the academy—especially to the communities represented by and invested in them. Further, it responds to a call from the community for greater cultural preservation and a desire from researchers on the topic to have a better platform to share and expand upon existing research. 

Raul Orlando Jimenez: Major Devil in the Congo Tradition of Portobelo, Panama 2001

DigitalPortobelo