After unprecedented protests, 鈥楥ubans need a response now鈥�
| Mexico City and Havana
When Havana-based musician El Funky was invited to collaborate on a song about the need for change in Cuba, he was thrilled. He admired the other musicians involved in the project and felt a strong connection to the lyrics, which call for a new vision for the island.
But he never imagined the reggaeton song and video, 鈥淧atria y Vida鈥� (Homeland and Life), released in February, would become the unofficial anthem for unprecedented protests on July 11.
Exhausted by the daily hardships of a crumbling economy, a worsening pandemic, and a government slow to respond to citizens鈥� needs, thousands of Cubans poured into the streets in more than 40 cities, without any central organization. There had been nothing like it in Cuba鈥檚 history.
Why We Wrote This
鈥淗omeland or Death鈥� was Fidel Castro鈥檚 slogan. A growing number of Cubans, fed up with their revolutionary government, are asking, more hopefully, for 鈥淗omeland and Life.鈥� And they have a song about it.
鈥溾�楬omeland and Life鈥� turns the famous phrase of Fidel Castro 鈥� Homeland or Death 鈥� on its head,鈥� says El Funky, born Eliecer M谩rquez Duany. 鈥淏ut the reality in Cuba is that the levels of need and misery are so dire that this was really the moment to change that national motto. We Cubans want life and prosperity; we want a better future.鈥�
For the protesters and their supporters, the idea of 鈥淧atria y Vida鈥� is rooted in hope. The majority are young, never knew a Cuba pre-Castro, and are plugged into social media and the outside world. The song expresses the mood that inspired so many people to risk speaking out publicly against the authorities.
鈥淭his idea of homeland and life, I relate to it so much,鈥� says Deisy Castillo Fernandez, a teacher in her mid-20s living in Havana. She says she was nearly brought to tears when she stepped into the crowd of protesters on July 11, her first protest ever, and heard someone start a call-and-response with the word 鈥渇reedom!鈥�
鈥淲e love our homeland. We love our country,鈥� Ms. Castillo says. 鈥淚鈥檓 very happy to be Cuban. What I鈥檓 not happy about is the government. When the people together rise up, I think it鈥檚 because we just can鈥檛 do this anymore,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 suffer like this. All these laws and restrictions against us 鈥� we want Cuba and a future, not death.鈥�
鈥淲ake-up call鈥�
Edel P茅rez, an actor and news presenter at an online outlet in Havana, says he has regularly had to stand in line for more than six hours over the past year in order to buy staples like chicken. 鈥淪ometimes I arrive at 5 a.m. and when it鈥檚 finally my turn, I find they鈥檝e run out,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t all starts over again the next day.鈥�
When he heard 鈥淧atria y Vida鈥� for the first time, he felt like it put words to his ever-growing desire to simply have a chance at making his dreams come true in his homeland.
鈥淟et鈥檚 no longer shout 鈥榟omeland or death鈥� but 鈥榟omeland and life,鈥� and start building what we dreamed of, what they destroyed,鈥� the artists sing. 鈥淢ay no more blood flow for daring to think differently.鈥�
Although the protests were stamped out by police, and President Miguel D铆az-Canel called his supporters onto the street to 鈥渄efend the revolution,鈥� Mr. P茅rez expects to see more large-scale demonstrations in the future. 鈥淲e鈥檙e finally expressing everything that鈥檚 built up over the past 62 years,鈥� since Castro鈥檚 revolution, he says.
The government is no doubt worried, not least because Mr. D铆az-Canel lacks the revolutionary bona fides of his predecessors, both Castros. The wave of spontaneous protests was largely organized on social media, which has taken off in the past few years as long-restricted internet access spreads. After the protest, internet service and some landlines were cut. The state-run media has painted the largely peaceful protesters as looters and vandals; Mr. D铆az-Canel blamed U.S. sanctions for the discontent, and citizens report a beefed-up police presence on the streets.
The Cuban economy contracted by more than 11% last year, as the pandemic battered tourism and remittances from abroad. Like Mr. P茅rez, many Cubans are queuing for hours for basic goods and experiencing prolonged electricity outages during some of the hottest months of the year. COVID-19 restrictions intensify their misery.
The protests 鈥渁re a wake-up call for the government, but not because they realized there is a problem. The government knew about these problems鈥� of hunger, poverty, and suffering, says Rafael Hern谩ndez, editor of Temas, a Havana-based social science journal. 鈥淚t made them see the situation is much more urgent and critical than they thought. The protests showed the government can鈥檛 wait anymore. Cubans need a response now.鈥�
There have been some concessions since the protests, such as temporarily allowing travelers to bring food and medicine into Cuba untaxed. Few people are able to travel to and from the island during the pandemic, however.
The price of expression
In the early years following Cuba鈥檚 revolution, musicians were largely overlooked by the government, says Robin Moore, an ethnomusicologist at the University of Texas at Austin who focuses on Cuba. 鈥淭he first generation of Cuban youth raised under [Castro鈥檚] new leadership, a new education system, exposed to a lot of ideas about socialism and leftist ideals, were questioning a lot of things,鈥� Dr. Moore says. 鈥淓ventually, the government decided it was better to use these musicians as advocates for the revolution, so they started giving them support ... and they were expected to conform to the government鈥檚 position.鈥�
El Funky says he鈥檚 been expelled from the Cuban association of rap artists, which means he is no longer eligible for monthly stipends and won鈥檛 have his music played on the radio or TV.
鈥淎rtists have to walk a fine line. And clearly that line is being crossed right now,鈥� says Dr. Moore. 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 seeing from the 鈥楶atria y Vida鈥� folks is a lot of sympathy for the Cuban people. There鈥檚 a real sense of solidarity that might not have been expressed by early artists in Cuba,鈥� who may have called for creating a better society, but didn鈥檛 call for a change in regime. 鈥淚n that sense, 鈥楶atria y Vida鈥� is really raising the bar [on protest songs in Cuba], and those on the island are putting their careers on the line.鈥�
Yet for some Cubans, the song鈥檚 popularity is a distraction.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 need more mottoes, and that鈥檚 what it is, whether Homeland or Death or Homeland and Life,鈥� says Sergio Castillo, a TV director in Havana who supports the protesters鈥� cause, but felt it was risky amid rising COVID-19 cases. 鈥淚鈥檇 prefer reflection, as a country,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fine to say you鈥檙e disappointed or frustrated or want things to improve, but what about concrete proposals?鈥�
Despite the government crackdown on the protesters 鈥� upwards of 500 activists have been detained, Cuban human rights groups say, and a number of them have been subjected to rapid, lawyerless trials 鈥� people like Ms. Castillo insist they鈥檝e lost their sense of fear.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not afraid anymore,鈥� she says, despite being sprayed with tear gas as she returned home from the march in Havana. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not afraid to live, and now that we鈥檝e started saying it we won鈥檛 stop: We want liberty from oppression.鈥�
