Homeland and life, the war cry in Cuba, from the hand of Yotuel Romero

From his exile in Miami, Cuban singer, songwriter, producer and actor Yotuel Romero became one of the spokespersons for the protest against the Cuban government.

The musician is one of the songwriters Homeland and life, the anthem of the demonstrations in Cuba against the communist regime. With him it was composed by other popular Cuban singers, such as Descemer Bueno, El Osorbo and El Funky, with the group Gente de Zona.

They have united their voices to denounce what they consider to be more than 60 years of “repression” and “scorned dignity” in Cuba and they wish for a “new dawn”.

The song is several months old now – it debuted on music platforms on February 16. He has since racked up nearly six million views on YouTube. From the title, a contrast to the well-known motto of the Cuban Revolution, Homeland or Death, until the last word, it is blatantly against the government of Cuba and its policies.

The proclamation of Yotuel

Now, from his social networks, Romero has proposed to consider July 11 in Cuba as the “Day of the Fatherland and of Life”, “in tribute to all the Cubans of the world” who took to the streets this Sunday to demand their rights.

His proposal comes hours after thousands of Cubans took to the streets of the island to express their discontent with the Díaz-Canel government and protest against the economic and health crisis facing the country, in addition to the repression and the lack of freedoms.

“The world is listening to us and that’s what the dictatorship didn’t want,” Yotuel said on a live broadcast from his social media. And he said: “The people have woken up, the people want the Fatherland and the Life. In addition, he announced that he will be present at the caravan which will take place on July 25 and 26 in Washington in support of his compatriots.

Likewise, Romero thanked the international artists who showed their solidarity with the Cubans and dedicated a few words to Maykel “El Osorbo” Castillo Pérez, imprisoned for weeks.

El Osorbo, one of the authors of Homeland and life, was sentenced in 2018 to one and a half years in prison (six months more than the prosecutor’s request), for the alleged offense of an attack, for demonstrating against one of the decrees. The member of the San Isidro Movement has been detained in Cuba for nearly 40 days.

Considered one of the pioneers of Cuban hip hop, Yotuel is known for his syncretism of rap and other urban genres with Afro-Cuban rhythms and Caribbean folklore. Became famous in 2000 with the flagship album of Orishas, Cuban.

As a composer and producer, Yotuel has worked with renowned artists such as Ricky Martin, Jennifer López, Rubén Blades, Daddy Yankee and Christina Aguilera, among others. He also composed and recorded the song with Abel Pintos Walk (gentle and graceful), included in the new Argentinian album.

What does “Fatherland and life” say

“No more lies. The people demand freedom, no more doctrine. Let us no longer cry homeland or death but homeland and life”, these artists sing in the song.

“It’s over, you five nine, I double two. It’s over, sixty years locked up the domino. Look, it’s over: your five nines I double two. It’s over, sixty years locking up the domino “is the chorus of the song, which uses the domino game, very popular among Cubans, to send a message of change.

“You are already outdone, you have nothing left, you are getting by. People are tired of holding on. We are waiting for a new dawn,” the song says, referring to the system that Fidel Castro has been running for more than five years. decades after the triumph of the revolution in January 1959.

Gente de Zona, Yotuel Romero, Descemer Bueno, El Osorbo and El Funky also express in the subject’s lyrics their support for the San Isidro Movement, made up of young artists who peacefully protest against two laws of 2018 and 2019 that restrict freedom of expression and they awakened the solidarity of ordinary citizens.

Homeland and life refers directly to the storming of State Security agents on November 26, 2018, at the group’s headquarters to crack down on barracks reading poetry and participating in a hunger strike to demand the release of the rapper rebel Denis Solís.

Against the dollarization of the economy

“They broke down our door, violated our temple and the world is aware that the San Isidro Movement continues to be in place,” sing the performers of Homeland and life, all very popular in Cuba and Miami, where most of the island’s political exiles are located.

“What do we celebrate if people are in a rush to exchange Che Guevara and Martí for cash?” The song says in another passage, referring to the recent monetary reform, which includes the partial dollarization of the Cuban economy amid the severe crisis the country is going through.

The state has been marketing a good deal of food and basic goods in foreign currencies for months, despite the fact that the majority of the population does not charge in this currency and cannot acquire it through official channels.

At the same time, the lyrics compare what the island offers foreigners and what it has in store for Cubans themselves.

“Everything has changed is not the same / Between you and me there is an abyss / Advertising of a paradise in Varadero / While mothers mourn their children who have left”, they sing, while scenes of repression and a lectern occur, like the one Castro used to use for his endless, engulfed speeches.

Why did they join

Several artists have spoken on social media about what encouraged them to unite their voices, in a move similar to the one that in July 2019 summoned Residente, Ricky Martin and Bad Bunny, and which culminated in the resignation of the governor of the Puerto Rican era. , Ricardo Rossello.

“The lie is over, the deception is over, the incarceration is over, the torture is over, the prison is over, no longer letting you be as you are is over,” said Yotuel Romero, also a member of the Orishas group.

Meanwhile, Descemer Bueno, who took his first musical steps as a bassist for Santiago Feliú, stressed that “people are already realizing what is happening and are directly feeling what the end of this dictatorship will be.”

The official response

Unsurprisingly, the official response was not long in coming. The Granma newspaper, the island’s most important newspaper and the official communication organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, published articles alluding to the subject.

One of them, titled Homeland or death, describes as “rag and coward” the subject, and “rats” for its authors, and affirms that “there is no time to be intimidated in front of those who try to trample our country with a song”.

“Those who sing, they do it as if Cuba had given them nothing, as if they had become artists in Jupiter, as if they did not remember where they grew up and who kissed them for the first time (. ..) “, continues the text, which it points out that” this song steeped in hatred tries to make fun of all that we are “and” tries to change Cuba for a million views on YouTube “.

“There is not even the slightest hint of ingenuity, not a hint of intelligence in the crude conversion of the motto Patria o Muerte, into Patria y Vida, the title of the diatribe,” says another of the texts by Granny, which qualifies the song as “Operation Miami”.

In the same vein, the article entitled Sing for the country, not against it, admits that “the alliance of the protagonists does not surprise either”, whose creative capacities raise doubts.

The text acknowledges that the song’s authors are “famous, some with talent trained in our educational system” and that they have had commercial success in Cuba.

But he adds that “dazzled by the desire for higher profits, seduced by the Florida celebrity linked to the anti-Cuban industry (…) they tore their clothes and showed the precariousness of their ethical principles, s’ they had “.

And incidentally, he accuses the artists of “rewriting their personal stories” once installed “comfortably” in Miami. Although the “accusation” is devalued by El Osorbo himself, who posted on his networks that Homeland and life it is “a war hymn”; and he did it from Cuba.

POS