- Title: Singer Gloria Estefan urges global support for Cuban protesters
- Date: 16th July 2021
- Summary: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 16, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) GLORIA, ESTEFAN, CUBAN-AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND RECORDING STAR, SAYING: "It would be great to see the United Nations step up and condemn that. I know that President Biden has spoken that they're trying to see what they can do to get the internet back up. That would be important. We're all doing whatever we can but my feeling is it has to come from the Cuban people. My hopes are that there are enough people in the police and in the military that's going to start some kind of movement where they don't repress the people, where they stand up for the people that they're supposed to protect, instead of the government. They're the ones that have the power really." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GLORIA ESTEFAN, CUBAN-AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND RECORDING STAR, SAYING: "In Cuba, tourists have everything. I know Cuba always likes to blame the embargo, the United States. The embargo in Cuba is the government acting against its own people. It has existed for decades. There's no reason the farmers can't sell their crops, why people can't open businesses, why they can't travel. These are the fault of the Cuban government. There's food for tourists. There's medicine for tourists. They've created a second-class made up of their own citizens and the people have said, 'Enough!' WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GLORIA ESTEFAN, CUBAN-AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND RECORDING STAR, SAYING: "I think it's our responsibility to keep up the pressure while those Cubans are trying to protest on the streets of Havana and risking their lives - because they're risking them. There are no human rights there. There's no recourse there if someone is arrested or their family is detained. And it's very frustrating for the exile community that knows the suffering they're enduring over there. So I call on the United Nations to condemn the Cuban government and their tactics against their own people, that they're using violence, that people are disappearing, that they've killed people. I call on the governments that do business over there - Spain, France, Italy - to try to do something over there, somehow. I would love to be able to tell them what to do, but it would be a help if they (Spain, France, Italy) speak with the (Cuban) government and they tell them in some way that they don't accept the measures Cuba is taking against its people. But in my opinion I think that it's the Cuban police and military that have this in their hands. They have the power because they're armed. They (the government) can tell them to retaliate against the people but if they don't do it, there's nothing anyone can do. That would be incredible: to see the police and the military support the Cuban people, not a regime that has been in power for 62 years. Throughout the world, no regime has been in power for so long and they can see that the people are asking for a change." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) GLORIA ESTEFAN, CUBAN-AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND RECORDING STAR, SAYING: "We feel hopeful yet frustrated that there's not more we can do for these people so brave, that are going out into the streets and taking their lives into their hands because that is absolutely the case in Cuba - there are no human rights. No one is going to come and defend you if you get arrested illegally. There's not going to be an avenue for any of those people to be able to get out from under the thumb of the regime. And that's the level of desperation that they're feeling, that they're out on the streets. This is unprecedented." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) GLORIA ESTEFAN, CUBAN-AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND RECORDING STAR, SAYING: "I really think that because of the new generation that does not have romantic attachments to the revolution, or does not have that looming presence that was Fidel Castro, they're seeing things for what they are. They have social media. They can access other avenues of information and they are realizing that they are in a time warp that is a prison and they are revolting. Notice that they're not asking for food or medicine. They're asking for freedom, (SPANISH) libertad (freedom)." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) GLORIA ESTEFAN, CUBAN-AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND RECORDING STAR, SAYING: "The San Isidro movement has been incredibly important - artists, directors, actors. These are the people who are always thinking ahead, that are creative, that stand for freedom of expression and that's the only way an artist can create, in freedom. And they've been oppressed in that country forever so the fact that it's come from them is important. The fact that the song Patria y Vida has inspired and inflamed the hearts of so many young people in Cuba to do what they're doing and that it's an anthem now to this movement and we have to be very thankful for them. They went on hunger strikes. They were arrested. They paid the price. It's very easy to speak from a position of freedom and comfort; they are doing the difficult work and I applaud them from the bottom of my heart and I thank them for being so brave." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GLORIA ESTEFAN, CUBAN-AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND RECORDING STAR, SAYING: "In my heart, I have to raise up and applaud the San Isidro Movement that began months ago with artists, directors, actors, people who need freedom to create yet have been oppressed for decades in Cuba, and they stood up, spoke out and told their truth. They've been imprisoned. They've gone on hunger strike. They inspired a song Patria y Vida that has become the anthem of this movement. But they're taking a big risk. It's very easy for us to talk about freedom, talk about what could and should be done from the comfort and freedom of our homes but they're the ones that put their lives on the line and who are suffering the consequences. For us, what's important is to support and to spread the word on what they've done." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) GLORIA ESTEFAN, CUBAN-AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND RECORDING STAR, ASKED ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD TAKE FOR HER TO GO TO CUBA, SAYING: "There's a myriad of ways that the exile community can help and come in and try to help the country get back on its feet and have them choose their own government. This has to come from within Cuba and, at the same time, no one there really has the experiences of a free nation for so many decades. We would want to help and that's when I would love to go and do a celebratory concert. Who knows when that's going to be or if. Celia Cruz dreamed of that too and she wasn't able to live that. But my hopes are whatever makes life better for the Cuban people. I have lived a wonderful life. My father took me from Cuba at 2 years old because he saw clearly what was headed our way. The hope was to go back. I still have the round-trip PanAm ticket that was his desire and my mom's desire was to go back and rebuild Cuba after this situation. Obviously, no one imagined that it was going to be this way but it would have to be free of this government, of Communism and this government that has held it in its grips for 6 decades, more than 6 decades. So I'm hoping that I'm not too old by the time that happens and I could still do that but that's the least of our worries. Right now, the only thing we need is to try to support them in any way we can."
- Embargoed: 30th July 2021 23:46
- Keywords: Cuba Estefan Gloria Estefan anti-government protests civil unrest protests in Cuba
- Location: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: USA
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts/Culture/Entertainment,United States,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA002EM3DBUV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: FOR VIDEO OF PROTESTS IN CUBA, PLEASE SEE 1188-CUBA-UNREST/UPDATE, 2203-CUBA-UNREST, 3228-CUBA-UNREST/INTERNET AND 1218-CUBA-UNREST/DEATH
Cuban-born pop star Gloria Estefan on Friday (July 16) urged the United Nations to condemn the Communist government in Havana for its suppression of mass protests.
Estefan, 63, who left Cuba for the United States with her family when she was two years old, said she hoped the Cuban police and military would throw their support behind the protests.
"I call on the United Nations to condemn the Cuban government and their tactics against their own people, that they're using violence, that people are disappearing, that they've killed people," the "Turn the Beat Around" singer told Reuters in an interview.
Thousands took to the streets in towns around Cuba last Sunday to protest power outages, a COVID-19 surge, widespread shortages of basic goods and the one-party system.
The protests, the biggest in decades in Cuba petered out this week as security forces were deployed and government supporters mobilized.
"My hopes are that there are enough people in the police and in the military that's going to start some kind of movement where they don't repress the people, where they stand up for the people that they're supposed to protect, instead of the government," Estefan said.
U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called on Cuba on Friday to release protesters and journalists arrested at the demonstrations and denounced alleged excessive use of force against some of them.
Estefan, a three time Grammy winner, said she was proud of the young people in Cuba who risked their lives to protest.
"It's very easy to speak from a position of freedom and comfort. They are doing the difficult work and I applaud them from the bottom of my heart and I thank them for being so brave," she said.
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