Cuban Gov. Censors Tribute to Celia Cruz on Her Centennial
Rosa Marquetti warns that what happened “adds another chapter to the history of the application of political commissioner methods within Cuban culture.”
HAVANA TIMES – The gala for the centennial of Celia Cruz, organized for this Sunday, October 19, by the theater group El Público at Havana’s Fabrica de Arte Cubano (FAC), has been canceled. The news was announced on Thursday by the National Center for Popular Music in a terse message that didn’t even mention the Queen of Salsa’s name.
“The programming office of the National Center for Popular Music informs that the presentation by the theater group El Público, scheduled for this Sunday the 19th at 8:30 p.m. in Nave 3 of the Fabrica de Arte Cubano, will not take place,” read the brief statement issued by the state entity.
Actor Danielito Tri-tri (Daniel Triana), a member of the show’s cast, reposted the official notice with an angry comment: “The tribute to Celia has been censored, thanks to the same people as always.”
On Friday, Rosa Marquetti, a specialist in the life and work of La Guarachera de Cuba, who was born on October 21, 1925, shared a long post about the authorities’ decision, saying she felt “more pain than anger” over the incident. She titled her text Celia Cruz: The Brilliance of a Name Confronting Cultural Indigence. In it, she writes that the “prohibition” of the tribute planned by El Público and the FAC “adds yet another chapter to the history of censorship and the application of political commissar methods within Cuban culture.”
The musicologist notes that “some of those involved in this heartfelt initiative, after days of rehearsals and preparation, recount incidents of personal summons, unappealable orders, and threats warning of negative consequences for anyone who dared to disobey.” So far, none of those affected have published details about the pressure they faced.
Marquetti also criticized the “erratic statement from a bureaucratic entity that has nothing to do with the performing arts,” in which “they don’t even mention Celia Cruz’s name.” She added: “They’ve been afraid of that voice for 60 years, trembling with fear just to pronounce or write her name, terrified by her extraordinary power to draw people in, fully aware that her shout of ¡azucar! and her joy attract and persuade far more than the bitterness and karmic negativity with which they issue orders, lash out, and threaten with the only thing they possess: the brute force of power.”
For those same 60 years, the specialist continued, the authorities have persisted—“without success”—in trying to tarnish Celia Cruz’s legacy, “attacking and belittling her, pouring onto her the plantation-style misogyny and racism that have marked many cultural policies and decisions, while she stood tall before the world as the greatest embodiment of Cuban identity—the most internationally known, the most loved, the most applauded, the most honored.”
“They have never forgiven her,” Marquetti concluded, “for her rebellious spirit in defending and displaying her right to think differently and act accordingly—even though, today, the world neither recalls nor even knows what her political stance was. What they remember of her is only her music, her voice, and her Cuban soul—in other words, her marvelous art.”
The show, directed by Carlos Diaz with dramaturgy by Norge Espinosa and featuring the restaurant La Mansion Castillo, was scheduled to take place in Nave 3 of the FAC. The cast included Estrellita, Lucho Calzadilla, Freddy Maragoto, Roberto Romero, Georbis Martínez, Brian Pérez, Chai Deivis Torres, and the aforementioned Danielito Tri-tri.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.