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Juanes in Havana: 'This is the power of music'
BY LYDIA MARTIN AND JORDAN LEVIN | The Miami Herald
Hundreds of thousands of revelers filled Havana's Plaza of the Revolution on Sunday for Juanes' historic mega-concert, while in Miami, exiles watched on TV with mixed emotions.
As a sea of revelers jammed Havana's Plaza de la Revolución, Puerto Rico's Olga Tañon opened the controversial Peace without Borders concert Sunday with a sentiment that, despite all the debate on both sides of the Florida Straits, simply could not be disputed: "Together, we are going to make history!" she yelled. And the multitude, wearing white and hoisting colorful umbrellas that did little to alleviate the punishing heat, cheered. Then Tañon kicked off her performance with a merengue that, at least in Miami, seemed to carry a double meaning. "Es mentiroso ese hombre," she sang. That man is a liar.
But whether she chose the lyrics as a dig to either or both of the Castro brothers seemed less relevant than the overall, palpable joy in the plaza. Then, at the very end of the show, a major surprise from Colombian pop star Juanes, who was criticized by a segment of the exile community for organizing the concert because they believed it would lend support to the Castro regime. Juanes, who had insisted the concert had nothing to do with politics, made it political after all, to much approval from Miami's naysayers. He moved away from the day's ambiguities and shouted a straightforward "Cuba libre! Cuba libre!" (Free Cuba!) And then he chanted, "One Cuban family! One Cuban family!"
Reached by phone in Havana shortly after the concert ended, Juanes said the day was indeed about much more than music. "There aren't words to talk about something so huge, something that's so beyond music," he said. "This is the power of art, the power of music. We're so happy because the people are happy, and that's what matters to us." >> Go to Full Story >>>
Homophobia in Jamaica: A vicious intolerance
From The Economist print edition
The politicians seem unperturbed by hate crimes
It may have a laid-back image of reggae and Rastas, sun and sand. But for gays, Jamaica is closer to hell. The latest apparent victim of homophobia on the island was Britain's honorary consul in Montego Bay, the tourist centre, strangled in bed at home on September 9th. A note denounced him as homosexual.
Openly gay people must contend with the constant fear of violence. The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), a pressure group, reports 33 cases of serious injuries from mob attacks on gays in 18 months. Two female couples were attacked and raped by men in recent weeks. Many attacks go unreported, partly because police do not always investigate them. In court a murder charge is likely to be reduced to manslaughter if the victim was gay and the defendant claims provocation, as happened with the killer of an Anglican priest stabbed in his vicarage in 2006.
Some Jamaican gays say the police are becoming more helpful. Lyrics threatening death to gays by popular dance-hall artists have become much less common since the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, a regulator, decided in February to block all "lewd" and violent content. These lyrics also attracted bans and fines abroad.
But this does not herald a serious outbreak of tolerance. What Jamaican law calls "the abominable crime of buggery" is punishable with up to ten years of hard labour; "gross indecency" merits up to two years. A reform of sex legislation is now before parliament. But under pressure from the churches, both government and opposition have taken pains to weed out any wording that might weaken the ban on gay sex.
The prime minister, Bruce Golding, told parliament that he would not yield to foreign pressure to liberalise the law. One of his backbenchers Ernest Smith called for J-FLAG to be outlawed, and gave warning that gays were infiltrating the police.
The violence is feeding a gay "brain drain", with some of the brightest Jamaicans leaving for the United States or Canada. Even if they do not care about human rights, Jamaica's politicians and its government might spare a thought for the impact of their intolerance on a chronically stagnant economy. >> Go to Full Story >>>
