Cuba Rock Agency Director Dismissed

Cuba Rock Agency Director Dismissed / Camilo Ernesto Olivera
Posted on November 7, 2013

HAVANA, Cuba, November 6, 2013, Camilo Ernesto Olivera /
www.cubanet.org.- On Saturday, 2 November, Blanca Record was dismissed
as director of the Cuban Rock Agency. This was the surprising and
unusual response to a protest expressed through "official channel."

Blanca Recode took office last June. Her appointment was signed by
Orlando Vistel, Vice President of the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM).

For more than a week, a good share of the musicians belonging to the
Cuban Rock Agency (ACR) joined together to demand the dismissal of this
functionary. They drafted a letter where they explained the situation of
the groups, the despotic manifesto of this director, and her threats of
shutting them down and firing them.

On Monday, musicians and technicians addressed different levels of the
Ministry of Culture and also the Council of State. One group managed to
deliver, personally, a copy of their protest letter to the Vice Minister
for Music, Orlando Vistel. He scheduled a meeting on the 31st with
various of those making the demands.

As a result, the Vice Minister guaranteed a response to the demands of
the musicians and the workers of the Agency in a short time. The promise
was fulfilled in just under 48 hours.

During the weekend, events seemed to rush toward the firing last
Saturday. On Monday, the 4th, they decided not to keep the lawyer and
economist at the Agency. Other changes are expected in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the Agency and Maxim Theater continue operating and the
programmed concerts will go on.

This weekend, two groups from Colombia and Switzerland shared the stage
with Cuban groups.

According to reliable sources who asked not to be named, the Deputy
Minister Orlando Vistel accepted the rockers' proposal to name María
Gattorno as Agency director.

Between 1988 and 2003, Gattorno managed to sustain, against all odds,
the well-remembered "Patio de Maria" in a small house of culture. She is
is much loved and respected among musicians and the Cuban rocker and
metalhead audience.

During the time the Rock Agency was created in 2007, Gattorno decided
not to accept the leadership of this organization for personal reasons.
At that time, the appointment of Max Yuri Avila to the office was
approved, who at that time already had experience in the work of
artistic production and entertainment. Now the challenge is much greater.

The official dismissed arrived last June emphatically stating that "the
Agency is going to be closed." Reversing this is a challenge that lies
ahead for the two generations of rock and heavy metal musicians who
survive as a part of this State entity.

Certainly , the genre has survived in much worse circumstances. But keep
in mind that winning a battle is not winning the war. More than five
decades of eventful history of rock on the island testify to this.

Camilo Ernesto Olivera

Cubanet, 6 November 2013

Source: "Cuba Rock Agency Director Dismissed / Camilo Ernesto Olivera |
Translating Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-rock-agency-director-dismissed-camilo-ernesto-olivera/