El Taiger and Cuba’s Seesaw Politics

By Francisco Acevedo

HAVANA TIMES – Nothing has gone more viral in Cuba in recent days than everything related to the urban music singer and composer El Taiger, who finally passed away after fighting for nearly a week for his life, following a gunshot wound to the head.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation, as everything was quite strange. He appeared alone at the doors of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, with his head wrapped in towels to stop the bleeding. Speculation arose about whether it was a suicide attempt or an assassination, and authorities are still searching for the main suspect if it turns out to be the latter.

Although he was declared brain dead and it was almost certain he would have irreversible damage, thousands of his followers prayed for his recovery despite the precarious conditions in which he would have survived.

Ultimately, this did not happen, but the incident reopened the debate about the so-called “Pendulum Policy,” which refers to artists who live halfway between Havana and Miami, trying to stay out of politics.

Regardless of how delicate the topic is, since it involves a recently deceased person, it is important not to forget that Jose Manuel Carbajal, which was the artist’s real name, suffered the consequences of his personal decisions, of the life he chose to live, the friends he surrounded himself with, the environment in which he felt comfortable, etc.

But it is not those kinds of decisions I intend to discuss, but rather the decision to keep visiting Cuba. We should not canonize him now that he is no longer with us, nor use the excuse of “this isn’t the time” to avoid the reality we’ve been seeing for several years. Without fanaticism or cheap moralizing, I’m not sure he’s the best model to honor.

Wishing for his recovery is the most natural and human thing in the world but using that to attack those who had political differences with El Taiger is another matter. No one pushed the artist to fall where he did, nor was he a victim of political violence, as far as we know so far, and I don’t think that will change.

The main focus has been on influencer Alexander Otaola, the enemy of half the Cuban population, as the saying goes, because of his direct and sometimes extreme views. But neither he nor any of his followers were responsible for the musician’s death. Again, as far as we know today.

Sensitivity is human, but it must be channeled properly, or at least be consistent. If you can hold a public vigil for your favorite reggaeton singer’s health, you can also do it for those suffering in prison and for those who have died in countless ways as a direct or indirect result of the dictatorship.

Of course, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), the Ministry of the Armed Forces (MINFAR), and the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) won’t punish you for praying for El Taiger’s health. But we all know there are consequences for the other things.

The campaign against influencers, if it didn’t come from the Council of State, the National Assembly (Parliament), or the Central Committee, was certainly welcomed by our beloved Miguel Díaz-Canel, whose wife was one of those who expressed concern for the singer’s health.

The main argument on social media has always been the double standard of going to the United States to earn dollars and then returning to Communist Party-controlled Cuba, always avoiding any political stance.

This includes the owners of private businesses, who are much less famous but still live off the money they make from US citizens. In doing so, they play along with the dictatorship by giving the impression of a “normal” country, both economically and artistically.

Previously, others like Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, and many more tried to live this way but ended up settling permanently in the United States and breaking ties with their homeland. This doesn’t mean they forget their family; it just means they don’t perform concerts or participate in events that help whitewash the government’s image.

I previously referred to the Santa María Festival, which last year brought together several of these artists in a party atmosphere far removed from Cuba’s reality. It left a significant mark, especially on the career of Lenier Mesa, for example.

Cuban society is deeply polarized, and these people feel caught in the middle because they’ve never had a political vocation. But as the saying goes, you can’t be with both the Indians and the cowboys, because you won’t satisfy anyone.

On a personal level, it’s also difficult for a human being to endure constant attacks on social media—not just from public figures, but from their followers, too. Whether right or wrong, this pushes artists into depression, sometimes leading to drug abuse. When El Taiger himself said in live videos that he was using drugs or when he was accused of assaulting his ex-partner, none of those who prayed for him came forward to rebuke him, and that’s hypocrisy.

This could be a direct message to Lenier, El Micha, and others who continue to practice the “Pendulum Policy,” or even to Chocolate, whose life story is similar to El Taiger’s, although without the same covert complicity with the dictatorship.

Lenier, El Micha, and the others say they owe their success to their Cuban audience, but they know very well that if they depended solely on that audience’s income, they wouldn’t be able to live the way they do.

You can’t protest a power outage here, but you can gather to pray for El Taiger’s health, which is fine, but it shows the level of alienation and submission of the population —not a lack of sensitivity, because I’m sure they also care about those who suffer. What’s missing is the courage to speak out against it.

Unfortunately, a life couldn’t be saved this time, a life that might have been renewed after such a close brush with death. We shouldn’t wait that long to take a stand.

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.