Cuba’s Ministry of Culture (MINCULT) on Friday released the music video “You Don’t Get Involved With Cuba,” dedicated to Donald Trump and a new example of the official campaign to criminalize Cuban independent civil society demanding the regime’s freedom. respects speech and cessation of violence for political reasons.
“The orange president was concerned / saw that the election was lost / he calls on those who are running his errands / hurry up because the party is over / and watching the ‘baro’ is about to end / they have formed a title”, the lyrics written by comedian Alejandro García “Virulo” and performed by various pro-government musicians.
Without explicitly mentioning the San Isidro movement (MSI) or the 27N group, the topic reproduces the jargon that spokespersons and official media have used over the past month to attack the activists who previously held a sit-in at the headquarters of the collective in Havana. are violently expelled by the political police and the hundreds of artists and civilians who gathered in front of MINCULT the next day to demand an end to such repressive actions.
“Whoever has confusion must be confused / Who wants clarity to come in / The piece is not complex or deep / It is clear how they want to proceed / We just have to leave them behind / And that will not happen”, the text warns about the subject.
José Manuel García Suárez, director of the music video, which was shot in record time and released just 48 hours later, acknowledged that the production had all the institutional backing.
“We had the support of all the artistic groups that came in, from all the culture companies, ARTEX, EGREM, the entire Ministry,” he told official television.
For the recordings, the MINCULT called upon the Conga de Los Hoyos, one of the island’s heritage groups of that genre, founded in Santiago de Cuba in 1902, to perform at the Havana Prado, in front of the luxurious SO / Paseo hotels del Prado and the Iberostar Grand Packard, rather than in one of the modest neighborhoods where the group was born and operates.
The song’s interpreters include, in addition to “Virulo” himself, the salsa musicians Moisés Valle “Yumurí”, Mayito Rivera, Amaray, as well as Israel Rojas, from the duo Buena Fé, Ricardo Leyva, Dayán Carrera and María Victoria. The tresero Pancho Amat, the Entrevoces Choir and the National Symphony Orchestra also participate.
“Don’t let anyone fool anyone, they are upset because the nerve of cultural exchange is gone. Why didn’t they throw some of them out before? They should also do another topic to demand freedoms and citizenship rights, to be right. Let’s see if they would get the same support from the government and the Ministry of Culture, ”said Brayan de la Cruz on the Facebook wall of the official site Cubadebate, who played the video clip.
Leo Ochoa Pompa added: “When they are outside of Cuba, they ask someone about the situation in Cuba and they tell you that they are artists, that they are not talking about politics, but that they lend themselves to the bread and butter of the Castro dictatorship. “
“Nobody messes with them. Only they ended everything. If your house collapses, it’s not because of your neighbor! Look inside!” Said Yazmi Palenzuela.
On Twitter, Free Matancero He added, “It is striking that the video for the song was shot with the best view of Old Havana, why was it not shot in Centro Habana, Guanabacoa or San Miguel del Padrón?”