Cuba rocks to huge peace concert

[KurtFF8]

Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8265177.stm)


Hundreds of thousands packed Revolution Square for the concert
Havana has hosted the biggest open-air concert since the 1959 revolution, featuring some 15 top Latin American, Spanish and Cuban performers.
An estimated one million people - many wearing white - attended the free event in Revolution Square, Havana.
Colombian singer Juanes, who organised the Peace without Borders concert, received death threats from Miami-based critics of the Cuban regime.
But he had the support from 20 high-profile jailed dissidents inside Cuba.
The BBC's Michael Voss, who was at the five-and-a-half hour concert, said there was a mood of excitement as many residents of the isolated, music-loving island had never seen anything like it before.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif AT THE SCENE
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46412000/jpg/_46412254_voss66.jpg
Michael Voss, BBC News, Revolution Square
It's absolutely packed here. There's never been a free open-air concert like it ever before.
When Pope Jean Paul II celebrated his historic Mass in this same place just over 10 years ago, there were about 250,000 people here. We estimate there is double that number here now.
This is the centre of power here in Cuba. Normally when I come here, it is to cover the big May Day parades and there are red flags everywhere.
Now, everyone is wearing white. There are white flags, white shirts. That's the message - Peace without Borders.

He said people had travelled from across the island to attend.
But our reporter said heat was a problem, with many people being carried away on stretchers after fainting.
"We are here for the music and it is a message of peace and unity, not only for Cuba, but for the entire region," said Latin Grammy winner Juanes.
Among the other artists taking part on Sunday were Spain's Miguel Bose, Olga Tanon from Puerto Rico, the Cuban performers Silvio Rodriguez and Los Van Van.
"Together, we are going to make history," said Tanon, as she opened the concert with the love song, Es Mentiroso Ese Hombre (That Man is a Liar).
"It was really complicated to get here but I just couldn't miss it," a Havana resident, Maria Antonia, who was in a wheelchair, told BBC Mundo.
"We are going to stay as long as we have the strength," Cristina Rodriguez, a 43-year-old nurse who came with her teenage son, Felix, told AP.
'Farce'
While critics have complained that Juanes is endorsing the island's communist system, the dissidents say the concert is an opportunity for reconciliation.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46412000/jpg/_46412257_dance766ap.jpg
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif

In pictures: Cuban peace concert (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8265995.stm)

Juanes said the show was about peace and tolerance, not politics, telling the audience that "the important thing is to swap hate for love".
But at the end of the show, he caused some surprise by shouting "Cuba libre!" (Free Cuba!) and "One Cuban family", slogans associated with the Cuban exile community.
In Miami, where the concert was broadcast by Spanish language TV stations, there were protests among some Cuban-Americans, with one group crushing Juanes CDs using a small steamroller.
"There has been a lot of blood spilled in Cuba and people executed by firing squad," said 77-year-old Hernan Gonzalez, who said he spent six years in a Cuban prison for his opposition to Fidel Castro in the 1960s.
"He [Juanes] is singing over dead bodies."
Ninoska Perez, spokeswoman for the Cuban Liberty Council, told BBC Mundo: "It's a farce... that overlooks Cuban reality by conveniently describing it as 'an apolitical concert'."
The location of the Havana concert was highly symbolic.
The headquarters of the communist party is in Revolution Square, along with a giant metal sculpture of Che Guevara's head.
The square was used by Fidel Castro to give five-hour speeches, and is also where Pope John Paul II celebrate a historic open air Mass in 1998.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on Sunday, US President Barack Obama said he understood Juanes to be a "terrific musician", but he was cautious about the impact of the concert.
"I certainly don't think it hurts US-Cuban relations," he said.
"These kinds of cultural exchanges - I wouldn't overstate the degree that it helps."


Apparently this was a big deal (this is a few days old, I forgot to post it)

[Comrade B]

Miami was up in arms about this. A lot of anti-Castro people seem to be more focused on proving how bad Cuba is by making it bad than actually reasons why Cuba was so much better under Batista.

[proudcomrade]

"a giant metal sculpture of Che Guevara's head"

It is very convenient that they neglected to mention the enormous stone monument to Martí that also adorns the Plaza.


"he spent six years in a Cuban prison for his opposition to Fidel Castro"

Specifically, what sort of "opposition" was it? For all we know, it could have been one of the 700 attempts to murder him, in which case, I would say that punishment is appropriate.

The strange thing is that the exiles are actually appearing to get louder and more obnoxious as the years drag on. One would think that they would grow less closed-minded and militant, but, no...

I consider Juanes' concert to be perfectly appropriate. As a Colombian citizen, moreover, he should not have to answer either to the exiles' fanaticism, nor to the US government. He is, AFAIK, well within his rights; and if Cuba permitted it, then so were the zillions of happy concertgoers.

[RedSonRising]

Juanes is an awesome musician. He got many deaththreats from the Cuban exile community when he announced he would be playing there. I heard he was upset at someone following him around backstage at some point and got defensive. I don't think him yelling "Cuba Libre" is really an attack on the government on the whole, probably just expressing the sentiment popular in Latin America that the freedom to travel should be granted to citizens and that they shouldn't be "trapped" on the island. He probably recognizes the good progressive aspects of the Cuban Revolution, though he also praises Uribe as Colombia's president. Then again his platform was based on fighting the FARC and though many don't want to admit it that is a solid point of support from many Colombians, not just the oligarchy. Whatever, Juanes makes broad political comments like "trading hate for love" and it's probably for the better he doesn't stick his hand in politics any deeper. I'm glad the concert happened, I saw some of the performances and people were really into it. Cubans deserve to be treated like Latin Americans by the rest of the Latin American communities and engage in cross-cultural events like music concerts instead of being denied the access by external forces (miami, etc).

[☭World Views]

Miami was up in arms about this. A lot of anti-Castro people seem to be more focused on proving how bad Cuba is by making it bad than actually reasons why Cuba was so much better under Batista.

Better under Batista? That's rich! rofl the Cuban-American terrorist cells in Miami have very short memory.

They even sent Juanes death threats for having a concert in Cuba.

[Comrade B]

I think the reason for this is because there is little to claim that their political leaders are better than the current regime, so instead they just try to make the Castros look as bad as their leaders.
I am not arguing that Fidel and Raul are some kind of socialist political heroes (though I would consider them war heroes), but they have made their country a lot better off than most Caribbean countries, and the current regime collapsing could only give rise to worse conditions for the Cuban people. It can however, be reformed positively in my opinion.

[Yehuda Stern]

Specifically, what sort of "opposition" was it? For all we know, it could have been one of the 700 attempts to murder him, in which case, I would say that punishment is appropriate.

Or he could have been an LGBT person. Or a Trotskyist.

[manic expression]

Or he could have been an LGBT person.

Someone forgot to tell whoever organized one of the world's largest anti-homophobia events in Havana in 2008. You should let them know.

http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?JServSessionIdr007=2rubwzw2c3.app13a&page=NewsArticle&id=9179&news_iv_ctrl=1261

Anyway, good on Juanes for performing.

[Yehuda Stern]

Someone forgot to tell whoever organized one of the world's largest anti-homophobia events in Havana in 2008.

Yes, this clearly shows that homophobia is dead in Cuba. Oh wait, it doesn't:

Crackdown in 2001 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_1185000/1185641.stm)
Crackdown in 2004 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_3926000/3926441.stm)

But really, who would ever imagine a Stalinist regime doing something like orchestrating events to make it look progressive on the one hand while continuing the oppression on the other...

[manic expression]

Yes, this clearly shows that homophobia is dead in Cuba. Oh wait, it doesn't:

Crackdown in 2001 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_1185000/1185641.stm)

Did you even read the link? It talks mostly about de facto discrimination from layers of the police force. The Cuban government has been taking active steps to stamp out such bigotry, as evidenced by my previous link. You're trying to blame the Cuban Revolution for attitudes that existed well before 1959.


Crackdown in 2004 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_3926000/3926441.stm)

That's about transvestites. Coincidentally enough:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7441448.stm (2008)

IIRC, Cuba is the only country on the face of the earth to offer free sex change operations.

[Raúl Duke]

The strange thing is that the exiles are actually appearing to get louder and more obnoxious as the years drag on.That's because they are dieing, slowly passing away, and a large section of their future generation care little to nothing about Cuba and/or have a more "balanced" and/or "calm" view about it (relative to the rabid anti-castroism of their parents and grand-parents). Also, there's a slow political shift as the Cuban-descent demographic in Miami moved more "towards the left" (i.e. not literally, but more as in some move away from the Republican party) that is somewhat more noted in poorer Cuban communities (i.e. Hialeah, the area around 8th street, and perhaps areas of Kendall) then in other areas (People of Cuban descent in my high-school, which was in a Doral that is mostly a mid-high middle class area with lots of Venezuelan emigres, tend to be more conservative to a pathological level, in my opinion, since some seem to openly support the implicitly racist anti-immigration stance of the Republicans; which targets other hispanics. )

[Yehuda Stern]

You're trying to blame the Cuban Revolution for attitudes that existed well before 1959.

Of course. The police, as far as I know, is part of the state. It is exactly the fault of the Castroite regime that these attitudes still exist.

At any rate, we will not agree about how the regime treats LGBT people. What's clear, though, is that being in prison in Cuba for a long time hardly means that you're an evil right-wing conspirator.

[#FF0000]

Of course. The police, as far as I know, is part of the state. It is exactly the fault of the Castroite regime that these attitudes still exist.

This isn't really fair. You can't bring an end to bigotry by passing laws and making declarations.