November 15, 2004
The Spanish Culture and the African Drum
Forty-four members of the Cuban troupe performing the "Havana Night Club" revue in Las Vegas have defected and asked for poltical asylum in the US. It is the largest defection of Cuban performers to date.
The performers sought entry visas to perform in Las Vegas without the Cuban Government's approval.
Members said they had defied Cuban orders in early summer not to seek United States entry visas. But once the visas were granted, Cuban officials allowed the troupe to leave Cuba. They did so, the cast members said, because the issue had received widespread attention in the United States and because the Castro government did not want to be seen as impeding the flow of culture. In addition, organizers of the show said, several influential people worked to get permission for the trip. The actor Kevin Costner contacted the Cuban Interests Section in Washington on the group's behalf. Siegfried & Roy helped the ensemble land the engagement at the Stardust....
The performers said they decided to stay in the United States after the Cuban authorities told them they could be jailed or at the very least not be allowed to continue as professional artists in Cuba if they persisted in their plan to work in Las Vegas.
All of them now fear repercussions towards their family members remaining on the island. Yet despite this, they understand it's a small price to pay for thier futures and the futures of their children and family.
(Thanks to Scott of Burton Terrace for the heads up.)
UPDATE: When you have tried to leave Cuba for the states, the Castro regime immediately takes away your job. Then, they detain you periodically and threaten to arrest you for not having thejob they took away from you in the first place:
CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, November 12 (Alejandro Tur Valladares, Cubanacán Press / www.cubanet.org) - Ciro Erelio Díaz Hernández, a mechanical engineer who was fired two years ago when he tried to leave Cuba illegally, now finds himself being picked up by police because he's unemployed.Díaz Hernández says that Lieut. Eldys García Mederos of the police department has on repeated occasions questioned him about his unemployed state and told him to find a job. Last month he was brought before five officials and told he could be charged under the Danger Law if he continued to be unemployed.
Díaz Hernández was fired from his job at the Camilo Cienfuegos oil refinery after being caught trying to flee the country without an exit visa. He says he's been unable to find a job because his employment record now lists him as being "untrustworthy."
Posted by Val Prieto at November 15, 2004 07:40 AM
Comments
Here's what we should do to insure the safety of the their families.....discreetly contact the troupe's family members back in Cuba. Offer them American citizenship as well. Should Castro harm any of the individuals that accept our offer, we'll treat him as if he attacked any other American citizen.
Stan
The New American Revolutionist
Posted by: Stan at November 15, 2004 10:32 AM
Life has got to be hell there for pampered dancers to find it unbearable, too. It's just unimaginable, and the fact that in great numbers they acted in unison, at great risk to their families, says just so much. The evil regime had to have totally alienated them, offended their honor, insulted their intelligence, deprived them of their needs. And in the regime's eyes, these weren't even the ones they were oppressing. Barbaric regime. This will get attention here.
Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon at November 15, 2004 10:33 AM