Aída Cuevas, a star of local music who found support from Juan Gabriel in the worst moment of her life. (Photo by Brian Friedman/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)
It is not always easy for victims to escape a situation of domestic violence, and sometimes salvation comes with the assistance of a helping hand. This happened with Aída Cuevas and the intervention of Juan Gabriel (Alberto Aguilera), who helped her get out of the hell in which she lived.
Cuevas and Juanga met in 1977 when she was modeling in a variety show. She was 14 years old and decided to sing Maria, the bandit. He was impressed by her voice and the song she chose, as it was the first she sang on the radio under the stage name Juan Gabriel. He then told her that sooner or later they would record something together because he saw the potential in Aída to cross over into local music.
In 1982, Juan Gabriel produced an album with unreleased songs from his repertoire, on which the young artist was able to shine as a soloist. For the production, Cuevas moved to Los Angeles and lived at Mr. Aguilar's residence for a year During the recording process a great friendship developed between them.
At this point, Cuevas was already married. In 1980, at the age of 18, Aída met Uriel Alatriste, her first husband. They married in 1981 and had their first son, Rodrigo, in 1984. Actually, The godfather at the baptism was Juan Gabriel, who in 1985 invited his comrade to collaborate with him in his lectures, an offer which she accepted. However, the husband was not happy with the news.
With her one-year-old son Rodrigo and an outstanding singer alongside Juan Gabriel, Cuevas suffered from physical and psychological violence in her marriage. Aída's career promotion angered her partner, so she began abusing her to express her disagreement. The beating caused him to lose 60% of his hearing in one ear.
To avoid a major tragedy, she decided to remain silent about her suffering. He thought about his mother and what that woman was capable of. He knew his mother would get a gun to end the situation.
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“My mother was a champion target shooter. Because of her, they always had a gun in the house, in the safe. My mother told me: 'If anyone touches you, I will kill them'. My mother was a weapon. So I said to myself: “If I tell my mother, she will kill him.” My children will be left without a father and my mother will go to prison. I'd better keep quiet.' That was the reality, it was very difficult,” Cuevas told Anette Cuburu in Anetteando.
But he couldn't keep it secret from Juan Gabriel. With full confidence, she confessed that she was beaten at home. The composer immediately asked her to leave Alatriste in order to marry him and thus protect her and her son. She rejected the proposal, among other things, because of its roots in the conservative upbringing she was taught and argued that she owes her body and soul to the marriage concluded before the laws of God.
“I was abused for eight years until one day I gathered courage and said, 'Now is the time.' Do you know who helped me a lot to get out of this hole? Juan Gabriel”, Aida tells Cuburu. The singer-songwriter insisted a few more times that his comrade get married and leave his relationship with Alatriste behind, but this did not happen.
On the contrary, the singer made an attempt to save their relationship and change history with the birth of her second son Diego in 1987. However, things got even worse. The critical moment was in 1989, when the violence had already affected the children and she decided to leave her husband. With the divorce proceedings, the ordeal would drag on for several more years, mainly because Alatriste wanted to fight for the children's parental rights just to upset Aída.
In this time of crisis, Alberto Aguilera paid attention to what Cuevas needed. He even had the will to marry her if it would help protect and support minors. ““I can't say if he was in love with me or if he really wanted a family or wanted to help me, but he offered it to me (marriage) three times,” says Aída about the solution that her comrade proposed to her can rebuild his life away from his tormentor.
Today, the local music artist remembers these gestures of Juanga with affection. She appreciates what he wanted to do to protect her so much that in 2023 she re-recorded the songs from the album he produced for her in 1982. and she did it accompanied by her son Rodrigo, the child to whom the songwriter wanted to give his last name so that he and his mother would be safe.
