US Rep. Rivera, Exile Groups Protest Musician Milanes' Miami Show
MIAMI (CBS4) -- A small coalition of exile groups and a South Florida GOP congressman asked local authorities to cancel the first Miami concert of famed Cuban artist Pablo Milanes scheduler later this month at the downtown American Airlines Arena.
Milanes is one of Cuba's most famous musicians, a founder of the folk music known as Nueva Trova. He has played in the U.S. before, but he has never given a concert in Miami, the heart of the Cuban exile community.
The American Airlines Arena, which sits against the bay in the heart of the city, is operated by a subsidiary of the Miami Heat and owned by Miami-Dade County.
"The message is very clear," U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, told reporters Tuesday in Spanish. "The contributors to this county, who give their taxes and their money to operate the arena, do not want their resources used for the propaganda of an agent for the interests of the Castro tyranny."
The Cuban government receives a portion of its artists proceeds and gets to select who can travel and leave the island. Milanes' concert is part of a larger U.S. tour that will include gigs in New York and Washington. He is the latest Cuban artist to play in Miami in recent years, following los Van Van and Carlos Varela.
County Spokeswoman Suzy Trutie said Miami-Dade has no jurisdiction over whether to cancel the concert. An email to Heat officials was not immediately answered.
Tuesday's press conference came days after a Cuban appellate court upheld the 15-year prison sentence of a U.S. government sub-contractor for bringing satellite and other communication equipment into the country illegally. Alan Gross was convicted in March of crimes against the state, and his case has prompted Cuba hawks to step up their efforts to reverse President Barack Obama's policy of encouraging person-to-person exchanges with individuals on the island, including presentations by artists such as Milanes.
Rivera has sponsored legislation in Congress to reverse the administration's policy, including limiting travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans to family on the island, though his measure is unlikely to pass both houses.
About 30 people, many of them older Bay of Pigs Veterans and former Cuban political prisoners, used the concert as an opportunity to reassert their opposition to such cultural exchanges in general.
"We are working very hard to suspend the concert," said Rodolfo Rodriguez San Roman, head of the group Casa del Preso (House of the Prisoner). "We are going to defend our rights and reject the communist penetration."
But their opposition represents a minority in the city these days. Only a handful of protesters have come out against the event, and the Aug. 27 concert has received little local attention. Univision is planning to carry ads for the concert on its local TV station, though it declined to carry radio ads. Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County has placed ads for Milanes' show on its bus stop billboards. A spokeswoman for the city said she'd received no complaints.
Concert promoter Hugo Cancio told The Associated press the concert will go on as scheduled.
"There will be no cancellation of the concert of Pablo Milanes, who not only comes to Miami to sing to his Cuban brothers but also to hundreds of thousands of other fans from all over Latin America," Cancio said.
Still, on Sunday, the Miami Herald's editorial page noted the paper has supported "people-to-people contacts and family visits," but that in lieu of the Gross case, "For openers, the administration should put a hold on cultural exchanges -- halting visas for Cuban entertainers who come to this country and reap financial benefits for the regime ..."
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