Havana abuzz over singer's bold concert lyrics

Posted on Friday, 09.13.13

Havana abuzz over singer's bold concert lyrics
BY PETER ORSI
ASSOCIATED PRESS

HAVANA -- It was a day when Cubans were called to speak with one voice
to demand the return of intelligence agents serving long prison terms in
the United States.

Then, at a nationally televised event outside the U.S. diplomatic
mission in Havana, a prominent musician sang not only about the
so-called Cuban Five but also his wish for more freedom of information
and direct presidential elections.

Artists, writers and musicians have long enjoyed a certain amount of
room to speak critically about the island's Communist system. But
Robertico Carcasses' unusually bold lyrics at the pro-government
concert-rally were the talk of the town on Friday.

Carcasses, the 41-year-old leader of the Cuban jazz-fusion combo
Interactivo, sang about his desire for "free access to information so I
can have my own opinion..."

"I want to elect the president by direct vote and not some other way,"
he continued.

"Neither militants nor dissidents, (we are) all Cubans with the same
rights."

"And an end to the blockade," he added, in reference to Washington's
51-year-old economic embargo against Cuba, "and to self-blockade."

Then, more in line with the theme of the event, he gestured at the U.S.
Interests Section behind the stage and exclaimed, "Free the Five Heroes!"

"When I heard the first line, I thought, 'Did I hear that right?'" said
Diego Ferran, a 68-year-old retiree who watched the performance on TV.

"I was surprised that that was being shown on television ... I was very
pleased that he would do that, and in that place right in front of the
Interests Section," Ferran said. "He's very right in everything he said."

A woman who answered the phone at Carcasses' home Friday said he was
away, and calls to his cellphone did not go through.

His lyrics alluded to authorities' control over many aspects of society.

The state and Communist Party operate nearly all island media, and
Internet access rates are very low, if creeping upward.

The Communist Party is the only one allowed in Cuba, although membership
is not a requirement to run in elections. The president is selected not
by direct popular vote, but by parliament, which in turn is elected on a
ballot with just one approved candidate for each seat. Cuba defends its
political system as more participatory and democratic than most others.

Other prominent musicians have tested the boundaries of acceptable speech.

Legendary crooner Pablo Milanes has given interviews in which he
criticized counter-protests that are quietly encouraged targeting
anti-government groups such as the Ladies in White.

Singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez has also suggested that dissidents'
freedom of expression should be respected, even if their opinions aren't
shared.

Groups such as rappers Los Aldeanos pull no punches in criticizing the
government, but unlike Carcasses, they are outside the island's music
establishment and don't appear at official venues.

In 2008 punk rocker Gorki Aguila, known for raunchy lyrics targeting
Fidel Castro, was convicted of public disorder and fined, although
prosecutors dropped a "social dangerousness" charge that could have
resulted in a long prison sentence.

Carcasses' lyrics were perhaps most remarkable for where they were
delivered.

The concert was the crowning event of a government-sponsored yellow
ribbon campaign to raise awareness about the Cuban Five, who were
convicted in 2001 of spying on U.S. military installations and exile groups.

Cuba maintains that they were only monitoring violent exile groups to
prevent terror attacks on the island, and their imprisonment is one of
Havana's chief grievances against Washington.

Fans packed the so-called Anti-Imperialist Plaza at the foot of the U.S.
Interests Section Thursday night to hear more than a dozen performers.
One after another, they demanded freedom for the four agents still
behind bars.

As the show drew to a close, Carcasses rose from the piano during a part
of the song "Cubanos por el Mundo" where he commonly improvises.
Standing beneath some two dozen fluttering Cuban flags, Carcasses sang
to the crowd and viewers back home about what was on his mind.

"It was right at the end of the concert. Everyone was singing and
dancing, and I think not everybody realized what he was saying. I think
that's why more people weren't shouting when he said it," said Maite
Delgado, a 49-year-old office worker who was at the show.

"But I thought it was great that he did because he was absolutely
right," she said, "and I wish more artists would say more things like
that so we can keep moving forward."

Others were not amused.

"Unfortunate and opportunistic as well as disrespectful performance by
Robertico (Carcasses)," Edmundo Garcia, a Miami-based journalist and
activist sympathetic to Cuba said via Twitter. "But one swallow does not
a summer make."

---

Associated Press writers Anne-Marie Garcia and Andrea Rodriguez in
Havana contributed.

Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter-Orsi


Source: "HAVANA: Havana abuzz over singer's bold concert lyrics - People
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