Video: "Our day is coming" performed by Willy Chirino live before a largely Cuban-American audience
From now on Celia Cruz, Bebo Valdes and Willy Chirino can be heard on the radio in Cuba. For decades more than fifty artists critical of the regime have been censored from television and radio programming. But this week several foreign media, such as the BBC, have leaked that the so-called "black list" has been set aside.
An inventory of prohibited names was never made public, nor has the list's elimination been officially announced. The information has come to light through several workers in broadcasting, although no national listener has yet heard the cry of "Sugar!" -- launched by the Queen of Son -- emerge from their radio.
In addition to the already deceased Celia Cruz, many other artists have been banned for years and years. Among them are the bolero singer Olga Guillot, the saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, and pianist Bebo Valdes. Even the famous Spanish singer Julio Iglesias suffered this censorship as a result of his critical stance toward the government in Havana.
Now the music of all of them will once again be played on national media, after several generations of Cuban lost their art. However, the new measure still hasn't been reflected in the music programming on the air. This writer telephoned several national and local stations; the employees consulted said they were surprised by the news and didn't know anything about it.
The informal music market has offered the productions of these artists for years now. At private parties it has become common to hear Willy Chirino and Gloria Estafan. And their music has even snuck into some activities and events organized institutionally. New technologies have been making it possible for Cubans to acquire these prohibited voices on CDs, DVDs and flash drives. So this flexibility follows the same logic as other "Raul reforms": that of accepting what they can't prevent, authorizing what is already happening and is unstoppable. Radio censorship has tried to put corral us, and this new measure recognizes the impossibility of controlling musical tastes based on ideological considerations.
Nevertheless, the end of the veto doesn't mean that these artists will start playing immediately. The broadcasters must acquire their discs, and many programming directors will wait cautiously to see if this is a decision that is not rescinded. They will also wait for a definition of which songs in the musical repertoire will continue to be banned. Among those we will surely find those that allude to the topic of freedom or of a possible political transition in Cuba. Such is the case with the popular song, "Our day is coming," sung by Willy Chirino.
Translating Cuba is a compilation blog with Yoani and other Cuban bloggers in English.
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Thanks a million Mr. dictator, for kindly allowing my music to be played again on the radio in (what is left of) my impoverished land. So I wonder if my piece dedicated to the heroic "Ladies In White" would be included in that openness gesture too?
Now all I need is for you guys to reinstall my basic human right of getting in and out of my country with no restrictions, the right to speak freely, vote and organize different political parties with no harm or risk of beatings, incarceration or even getting killed by your henchmen. And by the way, are you guys planning to return the freakin’ house my grandmother built for our family in 1929, occupied by a Castro’s “gorilla” since 1988?
I’ll be waiting by the airport (on this side, of course):
Paquito D’Rivera
http://www.laopinion.com/Reacciones_a_la_medida
CLICK LINK FOR REPORT & WHO TO WRITE ON THEIR BEHALF!
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/011/2012/en/67bace9a-7e3a-42c3-a5ac-13de206bc55c/amr250112012en.pdf
She is Leydi Coca Quesada.
Coca's home was the scene of a violent mob attack by the Castro regime this week. They mob launched insults, climbed the roof, threw paint inside the house and beat up her father-in-law.
The arrest had been denounced by Ladies in White leader Berta Soler in the Hablalo Sin Miedo website.
Meanwhile, in Holguin, a Cuban intelligence officer, Major Douglas Torres Pupo, slapped Zuleidys Pérez Velázquez, another member of the Ladies in White, across the face and broke her jaw.
More "reform" you can't believe in.
The Cuban government wages a permanent campaign of harassment and short-term detentions of political opponents to stop them from demanding respect for civil and political rights. Since Amnesty International’s last report on the respect for the freedom of expression in Cuba, published in June 2010, the situation has further deteriorated with a steady increase in the number of arbitrary detentions. Criticism of the government is not tolerated in Cuba and it is routinely punished with arbitrary and short-term detentions, “acts of repudiation” (demonstrations led by government supporters with the alleged participation of state security officials aimed at harassing and intimidating government critics), intimidation, harassment and politically motivated criminal prosecutions.
The authorities continue to deny those wanting political change in Cuba their right to express and share their ideas freely and without reprisal or retaliation. Repression is routine. Peaceful demonstrators, independent journalists and human rights activists are routinely detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement. Activists are often detained as a preventive measure to stop them from attending public demonstrations or private meetings.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE REPORT!
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/007/2012/en/ccc6aeba-e892-4079-9e4a-63eebecd8a76/amr250072012en.html
STATE MONOPOLY OF THE MEDIA:The media has the potential to help shape public opinion and to monitor and assess the performance of those holding public office at all levels; it is an important tool for scrutinizing government practices in all societies no matter their political ideology. The absence of an independent media is a serious obstacle to the enjoyment of freedom of expression and the adequate review of corrupt and abusive official practices. Restrictions on the Cuban media are stringent and pervasive and clearly stop those in the country from enjoying their right to freedom of opinion and expression, including freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.8 The state maintains a total monopoly on television, radio, the press, internet service providers, and other electronic means of communication.9 According to official figures, there are currently 723 publications (406 print and 317 digital), 88 radio stations, four national TV channels (two devoted to educational programming), 16 regional TV stations and an international TV channel. All are financed and controlled by the government.10 Three newspapers provide national coverage: Granma, which is the organ of the Cuban Communist Party, Juventud Rebelde and Trabajadores.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/005/2010/en/62b9caf8-8407-4a08-90bb-b5e8339634fe/amr250052010en.pdf
CONTROL OF INTERNET ACCESS
In Cuba, access to the internet remains under state control. It is regulated by the Law of Security of Information, which prohibits access to internet services from private homes. Therefore, the internet in Cuba has a social vocation and remains accessible at education centres, work-places and other public institutions. Internet can also be accessed in hotels but at a high cost. In October 2009, the government adopted a new law allowing the Cuban Postal Services to establish cyber-cafés in its premises and offer internet access to the public. However, home connections are not yet allowed for the vast majority of Cubans and only those favoured by the government are able to access the internet from their own homes.
However, many blogs are not accessible from within Cuba because the Cuban authorities have put in place filters restricting access. The blogs affected are mainly those that openly criticize the Cuban government and its restrictions on freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and movement. For example, Generation Y is one of the dozens of blogs that are filtered or intermittently blocked by the government and are not accessible inside Cuba.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/005/2010/en/62b9caf8-8407-4a08-90bb-b5e8339634fe/amr250052010en.pdf