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His songs — including “Pampero,” “Sonatina,” “Romance Criollo” and “Guitar Concerto” — reflected his roots, with Latin melodies, harmonies and rhythms from tango to samba.

This image, taken at at El Pampero Psychiatric Hospital in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, shows Omar Mendoza, a severely undernourished patient.

There are few light moments in El Pampero, but every Friday morning, therapists put on salsa music and hold a dance for the 10 percent of patients who are stable enough to participate.

The vast majority of patients living at El Pampero have been abandoned by their families and rely completely on the state to meet their basic needs.

The one here, El Pampero Hospital, hasn’t employed a psychiatrist in two years.