Cuba's Silvio Rodriguez to USAID 'go to hell'

Cuba's Silvio Rodriguez to USAID: 'go to hell'
BY ANDREA RODRIGUEZ AND LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
Associated Press December 16, 2014

HAVANA — One of Cuba's most famous musicians is telling the U.S. Agency
for International Development to "go to hell" for pulling his son and
other island-based rappers without their knowledge into a scheme aimed
at sparking a youth uprising against the Communist government.

Folk singer Silvio Rodriguez went onto his Segunda Cita blog this week
to fill in his fellow Cubans with the details of the operation revealed
by The Associated Press.

His defended his son, rapper Silvio Liam Rodriguez, and Aldo Rodriguez
of the Cuban rap duo Los Aldeanos, who is not a member of their family.
The two young musicians and a second member of Los Aldeanos now live in
Florida because they say the Cuban government made it impossible for
them to perform on the island.

"The AP's revelations about the insistent program of USAID are full of
anecdotes, but more than anything they offer a clear lesson about
manipulation and intervention" in Cuban affairs, Rodriguez wrote.

He issued a veiled knock at Cuban authorities as well. "Should an artist
be automatically discredited just because he doesn't think like you?"
Rodriguez asked.

The AP last week published the results of its investigation into U.S.
efforts to infiltrate the island's hip-hop scene and use artists to
unwittingly spark opposition to the Cuban government.

The scheme involved a Serbian music promoter who brought Los Aldeanos to
Serbia for an international music festival and planned political
training. Silvio Rodriguez was unwittingly drawn into the USAID effort
when he lent his name to help get Aldo Rodriguez freed when he was
jailed in Cuba, and to retrieve the young rapper's confiscated computer.

Adrian Monzon, who once worked with the Serbians and the USAID
contractor Creative Associates, over the weekend confirmed via Facebook
he was the only person involved in the project in Cuba who knew about
the USAID connection. He now works at a Papa John's pizza restaurant in
South Florida and has a small event planning company.

Members of Los Aldeanos, who spoke out against the government long
before the USAID project, have said they never received any political
training and are solely responsible for their music.

Silvio Rodriguez is well-known throughout Latin America as leader of the
"nueva trova" folk music movement, and for his highly symbolic lyrics in
songs such as "Playa Giron" and "Ojala."

He said on his blog that he and his son don't always agree, but called
the young musicians "rebel spirits."

"They know that in many areas, I don't think like them, even though I
insist on defending their right to think and say what they choose,"
Rodriguez wrote. "As a father, and as an artist, I hope they learn from
what has happened to them that they take advantage of it. ... And may
USAID go to hell."

Associated Press writers Wides-Munoz and Gisela Salomon reported from Miami.

Source: HAVANA: Cuba's Silvio Rodriguez to USAID: 'go to hell' | Music
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