Cuba: Pre-concert nerves caused Juanes outburst
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA -- Cuba's official press said Friday that a Colombian rock star's
nerves got the better of him before last weekend's historic "peace
concert" in Havana, causing an outburst against authorities in which he
threatened to cancel the show.
The complaint by the Grammy-winning Juanes and other singers became an
overnight sensation on YouTube and Spanish-language television, and has
been held up by some Cuban exiles in South Florida as evidence of the
communist-run island's repressive ways.
In a confrontation with what appeared to be a member of Cuban state
security at Havana's famed Hotel Nacional hours before Sunday's show,
the singer complains of being followed and mistreated, and threatens to
cancel the event if authorities restrict access to the concert site.
"I just realized a little while ago that since yesterday, the guy who's
bringing me breakfast, the guy who is accompanying me, then I see him in
the concert, and now I see him sending messages," Juanes shouts in the
video, which was recorded by journalists accompanying him.
"We are very upset, very upset," Juanes yells. "We are here for the
youth of Cuba ... for the future of Cuba."
At one point, Juanes and Spanish performer Miguel Bose threaten to
cancel the much-anticipated show, while Puerto Rican star Olga Tanon
tries to persuade the men to perform.
"We're leaving. This is finished," Juanes yells.
The videotaped exchange was an embarrassment for Cuba, which had hailed
the performance as a rejection of the isolationism preached by some in
South Florida. Juanes received death threats before the concert, though
opposition to the concert was far from universal in the Cuban-American
exile community.
An article in Friday's state-run Granma newspaper says the pop star was
"clearly nervous" in the hours before the concert and was confused about
a hotel employee's identity.
"Juanes apologized not only to the young man, but to all the workers who
witnessed the momentary mess," Granma wrote.
Juanes' manager Fernan Martinez Maecha, who accompanied him to Havana,
told The Associated Press on Friday that the singer did have pre-concert
jitters, and blamed the hotel confrontation on mutual mistrust.
"There were a lot of nerves," he said. "Putting on a concert in Cuba is
difficult. This isn't Disney World, but that's why we went there."
He said the hotel worker singled out by Juanes later explained that he
went to a concert rehearsal Saturday because he had to work at the hotel
Sunday and wouldn't be able to attend the event.
"Cubans have a million spies. They're not going to use the same spy to
serve breakfast and make your bed," Martinez Maecha said. "Look, they
didn't know what we were going to do. There were a million people
coming. We had doubts about them, and they had doubts about us."
Hundreds of thousand of people attended Sunday's 5 1/2-hour show at
sprawling Revolution Square, making it the biggest visit by an outsider
to Cuba since Pope John Paul II's 1998 tour.
Juanes, who has won 17 Latin Grammy awards, more than any other artist,
is known for his social activism. He and the other performers had
brushed off the criticism from Miami, saying the show was about music,
not politics.
Editor's Note: Associated Press reporter Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami
contributed to this report.
Cuba: Pre-concert nerves caused Juanes outburst - Cuba News -
MiamiHerald.com (25 September 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/more/story/1251629.html
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