Havana gears up for huge concert

[demoleft]

Source: bbc

Havana is preparing for the biggest open air concert since the 1959 revolution, featuring some 15 top Latin American, Spanish and Cuban performers.

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are expected to attend the concert in Revolution Square in Havana.

Colombian singer Juanes, who has organised the event, has received death threats from Cuban-American opponents of the regime in Miami.
...
During a break in rehearsals, Juanes said the show was about peace and tolerance, not politics.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8265177.stm

---

hehe, i thought "peace and tolarance" were also politics. mr juanes is a bit confused about that - but it's good. as far as it's a concert and not a regime parade, it's good.

[Ken Burch]

1. Wish I was there.

n/t.

[Richard D]

15. me too.

[madokie]

22. Of all the places in the world I'd like to go to Cuba first

maybe that't the communist in me that makes that true and if it is so be it, call me a commie.

[Ken Burch]

41. I'm not really a Fidelista

but it is clear that, if the capitalists from Miami ever come back, everything that's beautiful and unique about Cuba will be gone forever. The poetry of the place will die once the market comes back. Beauty and stockbrokers can't live side-by-side.

[Peace Patriot]

2. A "regime parade"? What's with the snark?

We should be condemning the Miami mafia's death threats, instead of sniping at Cuba.

And I'm afraid that your view of "peace and tolerance" as "political" is the result of corpo/fascist 'news' monopoly brainwashing. Only in their "Alice in Wonderland" world are warmongering, war profiteering and intolerance a legitimate political position. Without their massive control of the media, these horrors would be consigned to the medieval dungeon where they belong, and the group of radical fascist criminals and nutballs who advocate them and perpetrate them--from Bush, Cheney & brethren, to "tea-baggers"--would be seen as the tiny minority that they are in this country and in the world.

[demoleft]

3. oh, i thought you were talking exactly of castro when you said...

..."Without their massive control of the media, these horrors would be consigned to the medieval dungeon where they belong, and the group of radical fascist criminals and nutballs who advocate them and perpetrate them..."

i know people from cuba. "regime" is the right word. i wash my brain every day with peace and tolerance - wish the castros had a shower on that every morning, instead of their expensive cigars - each of which is worth an average cuban family week income.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Hmm...........

[demoleft]

7. and some wine too - thanx! ;) n/t

[carla]

5. Who opened

the cow stall? Income in Cuba is not an issue to most Cubans except when looking for luxury goods. Put the bull away.

[demoleft]

9. hehe, i'm curious to know what you call "luxury goods".

i just wanted to point out that there's a privileged regime there that keeps the people in starvation, in reply to the DUer who kindly posted a comment on the news, and that i hoped the concert was just music and fun, and not a parade for the castros, whom i can't suffer a bit, no less than the chinese leaders.

as far as cuba is concerned, my bull will rage around til i see a bit of democracy around there.
ciao

[jwirr]

24. Doesn't our long boycott have something to do with their hunger?

I was around when Castro took over and I distinctly remember him going to DDE for help in overthrowing the corrupt government and Ike turned him down. None of this would have happened if Ike had given a shit about what was really happening in Cuba.

[EFerrari]

32. Of course. Cuba imports something like 75% of its food.

The supply of food, medicine and medical equipment are all impacted by the embargo and the problems created are then blamed on the Cuban government. Pretty neat trick.

[EFerrari]

31. Hilariously skewed hyperbole. All you have to do it look at any

world hunger map to see that our allies in the Americas and in the Caribbean are much worst off than any of the socialist countries. The impediment to better food security in Cuba is trade, not the Castros, also noted by the UN World Food Program. Colombia and Peru, for example, are at more than double on the World Hunger Index. Poor Guatemala, our landing strip for decades, is even worse off than that.

http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/food-security-statistic... /

World Food Programme profile:

Cuba 2.5
http://www.wfp.org/countries/cuba

Peru 5.6
http://www.wfp.org/countries/peru

Colombia 6.7
http://www.wfp.org/countries/colombia

Guatemala 14.6
http://www.wfp.org/countries/guatemala


You're whining about the wrong people.

[demoleft]

34. the people i know are from havana, not from miami... ;)

...i know and cubans know that trade and embargo are the main causes of their troubles.

if you were the leader and your people had being suffering in starvation, your teens prostituting to the tourists, your mothers and fathers doing their best with the black market - would you change course to your foreign policy or not?
of course, all the above mentioned has nothing to do with the life of the castros - they live like kings. that's why i used the word "regime" in irony, from latin "rex"=king.

i'm whining about the right people, rest assured.
curious how so many here have sympathies for a dictator self-defining socialist. good luck, should you move there to a better life!

and now enough - it's about music and stupid me to make it politics.

thanx for the comments.

[EFerrari]

35. "Changing your foreign policy" is giving into blackmail in this instance.

Now that the United States has (almost completely) lost Latin America, things will continue to improve in Cuba because it is developing partnerships all over the region. It's too bad Obama let go this opportunity to rejoin the international community on this issue.

[Mika]

49. Please do tell us of your experiences IN Cuba. Thanks.

as far as cuba is concerned, my bull will rage around til i see a bit of democracy around there.

I'd love to hear about your first-hand experiences in Cuba, and how it is that you'll "see a bit of democracy around there".

You seem to be a Cuba expert. How so?


Cheers.

[demoleft]

50. that is: i should tell you the when, where, what, who, how of my cuban experiences? :)

...and please - who are you to ask me this?
have u seen me ask anything personal to the DUers here in this thread?

as far as democracy is concerned: the end of this dinasty, a republic based on parliament, free elections. and there, if Castro wins - good for him and good for the cubans who elect him.

the most unbeliavable thing here on DU about Cuba is that me in italy with Berlusconi and you there in the USA with Bush and the control over media are always complaining about FREE INFORMATION. you know that thing called "right of free expression and opinion?"

something Cuba is short of. i'd like to see here more bulls raging about the necessity for freedom in a country led by a dictator.

as to me - my hero has never been any Che Guevara. my heroes are the (almost) unknown partizans who fought against the fascist dictatorship and the nazi occupation to give me a free republic with free press and free expression.
with all the biases of our democracies, i still have here and there a place to speak my mind.

cubans have not. and some might like - some living in l'Havana. not in Miami.

and now enough of this.
thanx for the comment.
ciao.

[Mika]

51. So, you have no experiences in Cuba.

That being the case, you have little to proffer except conjecture.

I have lived in Cuba and have been there on many extended stays, including during the entire '97-98 election season, start to finish.

Based on my personal experiences in Cuba, during which I did considerable research into the issues of free speech and their democratic system, I disagree with your assessment.

Cubans can and do speak out vociferously in the political arena, and Cubans of all stripe can and do run for elected office.

Thanks for offering your opinion.

Cheers.




-

[demoleft]

52. enjoy your conjectures on me. you're welcome. cheers. ;) n/t

[Mika]

53. Just wanted to find out if you had any experience in Cuba upon which you are basing your opinion.

Since you don't want to freely inform me/us as to what qualifies you to make such sweeping pronouncements about Cuba.

I would bet, based on your opinions, nothing.


Cheers



-

[ngant17]

11. where are you coming from?

"I know people from Cuba"? So it's possible you have briefly spoken with a few Cuban-Americans from Miami or S. Florida so what's that going to prove? You most likely mean, they do not live there now but their parents or grandparents might have lived 50 years ago, and some of them might even have collaborated with Batista during that time?

There are 11.4 million Cubans living on the island today, so who are you to speak for all of them?

The Cuban Revolution has passed from national liberation to that of the social domain, and it is engaged in the construction of socialism as it will be the future of humanity, but the ways of that struggle for reaching it have to be followed according to the concrete historic traditions of each country.

[demoleft]

14. cuba has a right to its way to socialism...

...provided oppression and lack of freedom, violence, prostitution and black market do not become a too long passage to the socialism.

i would not trade my sore democracy with that kind of socialism.
and the castros look more like a family of kings than presidents.

i'm italian, i know cubans from l'Havana and i'm a leftist democratic. so imagine my sympathy for the castros.
i know well cubans do not dream of making a capitalistic society of their country, and thry are proud of their revolution.
i'd just like to see the young cubans to have a different perspective.

anyway, my fault - the thread was about a concert and i made it politics.
silly me.

ciao and thanx.

[EFerrari]

30. "Regime" means government in power.

And those people you know wouldn't all be living in Miami, would they?

lol

[jasi2006]

6. I truly hope the concert goes well and that the Cuban people

have a night of love, peace and enjoyment.

[demoleft]

10. definitely yes. n/t

[pattmarty]

8. Let's face it, Cuba IS NOT and NEVER WAS a threat to the US...............

...........The only reason for the US "hate" of Cuba was because Castro was a "Communist". For over 40 yrs the PEOPLE have suffered because of a really, really fucking stupid embargo.

[underpants]

12. No it is because Castro took away the booze, gambling, whoring, and money laundering capital

of North America

[pattmarty]

13. Yeah, that too.

[jwirr]

25. Bingo.

[imdjh]

17. I read that you have the cart before the horse.

I was reading someplace that the reason Castro is a communist is because the US didn't back him or help him. Not the other way around.

[pattmarty]

18. Either way it's "old" news. What other leaders in the world today................

...............refer to themselves as "communist" or where other countries refer to them as that? Most countries in the world today are dictatorships, fascist democracies (the US in particular), or as in most of Europe and South America today, social democracies. Either way, whatever one thinks of Castro (I ain't a particular fan) he was never a threat to the US, and the over 40 year old "embargo" has hurt the people of Cuba far worse than it has the actual government.

[imdjh]

20. I've always found the embargo a little suspect. It worked really well.

The US got to have the evil debbil of communism right at its back door and Castro had an anti-revolutionary boogeyman renting a military base on the end of his island. Castro was under the protection of the US the entire time we're pretending to not be speaking with each other. The US sends a shipment of gold every year to a hostile communist government. It's really all too sweet to not be contrived.

[Judi Lynn]

37. Where on earth did you get THAT idea, regarding this "shipment of gold?"

It has been known for AGES that post-revolutionary Cuba has NEVER cashed one of the silly checks the US sends every year, of an amount set when they took the base so long ago. They wouldn't cash one of the checks even if it were a less insulting amount which is similarly insulting to a bead bracelet, around $2,000.00.

NAVAL RESERVATION LEASED
http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps17563/www.nsgtmo.nav...

[imdjh]

46. It was a reference to the original deal to pay rent in gold coin.

But also to various other dealings which amount to cash from the US going to Cuba.

[Vidar]

26. Castro & Mao both asked the US for aid (Mao during WWII), but

we missed splendid opportunities to make the world a better place in our corrupt crusade against communism.

[Peace Patriot]

45. So did Ho Chi Minh. He wrote to Eisenhower quoting Thomas Jefferson and

the Declaration of Independence, in the hope that the US would back UN-sponsored elections in Vietnam after the Vietnamese threw off French colonialism as we had thrown off British colonialism. But Ike was still in his pre-enlightenment, pre-anti-"military-industrial complex" phase (which didn't happen until the end of his second term) and blocked UN-sponsored elections in Vietnam, which Ho Chi Minh would have won. He was the very popular leader of the Vietnamese anti-colonial revolution. Thus we lost what would have been an ally within the communist world--a country that was so ferociously independence-minded that it beat the US military in a full scale war, and had fought off the Chinese for 5,000 years--and a country that might not have been hard-line communist at all, but more of a socialist democracy. If only we had tolerated democracy!

Instead, we slaughtered 2 million people in Southeast Asia, and lost over 55,000 of our own soldiers, in one of the most unjust and pointless wars ever waged.

It was to overcome our revulsion at that unjust, pointless and horrible war--which the rightwing and our warmongers call "the Vietnam Syndrome" (hatred of war)--that Bush Jr. and handlers invaded Iraq. That and the oil.

[Vidar]

54. I thought he did, but didn't trust my memory. Thanks for the details.

[imdjh]

16. Didn't they start having rock concerts in Moscow, right before the USSR fell apart?

[dotymed]

19. Cubans have suffered from the American Embargo

for way too long. There should have never been an embargo. It
wa because Castro (and the Cuban people) wanted no more
American style corruption on their island and they had a
dream about being free from the manipulation caused by
capitalism. Unfortunately, the American government did not
want them to succeed, especially so close to home. Just like
the tricks they now use to undermine the Venezuelan
government. If we,Americans, had not tried to punish Cuba for
the last 50 years, it is mind boggling to imagine what Cuba
might have accomplished. As it stands they have accomplished
many things (free education for life, free and great medical
care, a population while hungry for the amenities and some
necessities of modern life, have not become slaves of
corporations). If America would lift the embargo, these great
people could access the things most of us take for granted. I
do not agree with many of the methods used by Castro, but I
do believe that he and the people were tired of being slaves
to America and the usury that entailed.I also believe that,
just like all political systems, there are the few who have
benefited at the expense of the many. America should never
demand or attempt to destroy the political paths chosen by
other Nations. While most Cubans blame Castro for their
shortages, I blame the American embargo. The Cuban people
that I have met, are a proud, energetic, intelligent people.
I hope they enjoy their concert, they have endured so much
and deserve a lot more.

[Joe Chi Minh]

21. How long before some of our groups of rock "wrinklies" in the UK want

to get in on the act?

[dipsydoodle]

33. I know people in the UK

who've been recording out in Cuba for years.

[Joe Chi Minh]

36. I mean the likes of McCartney and Jagger. But wasn't that Buena

Vista Club thing the greatest! Set up by your American guitarist and Nick Gold, an English record producer.

[dipsydoodle]

38. Try this

SKA CUBANO - NATTY BO - REVOLUTIONARY SKA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blwju1rMVls

and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0eu2okP9mA&feature=rela... Natty is on the left.

and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISKzBoIjls8&feature=rela...

[Joe Chi Minh]

42. Thanks for those. I'm going to google about the peace prize.

[Mika]

40. Ry Cooder had to pay $175,000 US gov fine for going to Cuba to make BVSC.

Freedumb on the march.

Exiles are now fully enfranchised 1st class US citizens/residents by Obama's new policy - they can go anywhere including Cuba as many times as they please, no problemo.

The rest of us are relegated to 2nd class US citizens/resident - still disenfranchised travel banned citizens by dictate of our own US gov.



-

[dipsydoodle]

43. Well you see

there are some distinct benefits of being English as am I and Natty Bo too.

[Joe Chi Minh]

48. Cooder's fine was criminal. Any fine. The rest is pathetic.

[ensho]

23. hope they make a video to buy

then the world could see some of it too.

[catzies]

28. I understand it'll be on the web. My Colombian friends here will be listening

We talked about it over dinner last night. Here in So. Cal. they listen to streaming Colombian web radio & they said they will get to hear the concert.

[ensho]

29. thanks for the info

nt

[datadiva]

27. Love his music

I hope the concert goes off well. Not the first time he's given a free concert. Wish I could be there.

[Selatius]

39. In the US we have a game called Dance Dance Revolution. In Cuba, it's Dance Dance Counter-Revolution

All kidding aside, I hope the Cuban people have a fun time. Partying is a universal trait. Everybody loves to party, and the Cubans know how to dance up a storm.

[demoleft]

44. UPDATE: over one million people. here's the pics.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8265995.stm

beautiful.

[ronnie624]

47. Thanks for posting.

The caption of the second photo refers to Cuba as "isolated". I was under the impression that most countries in Europe and Asia have had normal relations with Cuba for decades.