The political repression in Chile in the 1960s and 1970s forced artists and professionals- many of them former political prisoners- into exile in Canada, Europe, and the United States. nueva cancinera Suni Paz moved to the United States and utilized music in curricula and to teach socio-political awareness to public school children in Southern California. Activist-musicians Rafael Manrquez and Quique Cruz formed Grupo Raz (joined later by Hector Salgado) to affirm and introduce Chilean nueva cancin to the Bay Area and beyond. As musicians who had honed their poetic and musical talents at "caf concerts" or peas of their native Chile, they established La Pea, a community arts center in Berkeley, California.