A new episode of censorship took place this weekend Cuba. A concert in Havana by the popular Cuban singer Emilio Friasdirector of the El Niño y la Verdad orchestra, was abruptly interrupted on Saturday night by regime security personnel.
The show, which took place at the state Galeano House of Musicin the middle Havana, was about to end when a security manager rebuked the presentation’s audio technician, according to different versions. This can also be seen in videos of the event that began to circulate on social networks in the early hours of this Sunday.
“Maybe I can be wrong, but my mistake is mine. I am not saying that, as I think, many people think. I haven’t said anything, here all this has been put together by them… And if they’re going to get like this, don’t invite me anymore. Don’t call me anymore, and get me out of everywhere. Get me off television, get me off the radio… Where they won’t be able to get me is from the hearts of all Cubans. Wherever I am, I will be in the hearts and minds of all Cubans. I just have to tell you: May Yemaya’s blessing always reach you all!” said the singer as an introduction to the final theme of the concert.
That’s when the organizers tried to end the show.
“If you are going to do that, I am leaving, but let people see you turning it off. Can’t I say goodbye to people?” Frias reproached the security person who was pressuring the technicians to turn off the sound amplification.
Immediately afterwards, and as a sign of protest, the artist started the song, and in the midst of the public’s applause, he told the regime agent: “Lay it down if you want, lay it down if you want now.”
The technician was expelled from the stage despite the protest of Frías -who had been invited on several occasions to festivals and official concerts- and the assistants. The concert culminated shortly after with the eviction of the rest of the spectators.
On the closing of the show, Frías was going to perform a brand new single called “Change”which alludes to the country’s need to end six decades of dictatorship.
It was at that moment, according to the independent journalist Manuel de la Cruz, that the security personnel asked him to stop, which caused Frías to complain on stage.
“One day everything will be different, one day my pupils, still young but exhausted from so much suffering, will see the light of hope,” the singer wrote this Sunday on Facebook, alluding to what happened yesterday.
On that same social network, the group announced on September 6 the next premiere of Cambio, scheduled for this Friday the 16th.
The promotional material shows images of an extremely thin older woman with a faded Cuban flag.
Last Friday Frías had announced on his Facebook account that the concert at Galeano’s House of Music was “a great farewell”, before leaving for Mexico. In the video, he also referred to the release of “Cambio”: “It is a song with which, I am sure, many brothers, many compatriots, many Cubans will identify, whether they are on the island or not, because the word change is today Very necessary”.
With information from EFE
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Censorship in Cuba: the dictatorship interrupted a music show for a critical song