By Alejandra Garcia on June 4, 2023
Last night the Cuban duo Buena Fe ended their tour of Spain, marked by love and the artists’ willingness to consistently ” offer their hearts” despite the fascist hatred and the cultural war they were targeted with. Against all odds, they offered their last concert in Madrid, where they received a standing ovation for several minutes to a full-house at the Marcelino Camacho Auditorium.
About 800 people gathered that night at the auditorium, which belongs to Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), the largest trade union in Spain. A few minutes before the beginning of the last show of the tour- which included performances in Bilbao, Barcelona, Mataró, Cáceres, Valencia, and Geneva – solidarity groups held a rally in support of the group and against fascism and the US blockade on Cuba.
“During Buena Fe’s memorable concert, music, love, and other miracles frolicked on stage, with Art in the foreground,” Cuban journalist Fausto Triana, Prensa Latina’s correspondent in Madrid, reported.
The Buena Fe tour ended with a resounding success, despite threats and efforts by some elements of the Cuban diaspora in Spain to boycott the show, even succeeding through intimidation in suspending several concerts in private venues. Art and solidarity was the great winner of this story, and the enthusiasm of the hundreds of people who attended the event translated into loud applause and shouts of “Viva Cuba”.
“We are very grateful for your support and Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) help. We thank you for lending us this auditorium so that we can offer you the best of our music. Here, there is no place for hatred or personal attacks, but for love and friendship,” the duo’s vocalist, Israel Rojas, said.
Triana recounted that lead vocalist and guitar player Yoel Martinez, with the addition of Ernesto Cisneros’ keyboards on this occasion, opened the performance with a fragment of the emblematic Guantanamera. “Then they slipped into their melody, with lyrics attached to love and Cuban folklore, with Corazonero, La Tempestad, Volar sin ti, No juegues con mi soledad, El hipopótamo, Café, Casanova, Cecilia Valdés, and La Bella Durmiente (…),” the journalist explained.
They also sang a heartfelt Buena Fe-style rendition of “Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazón” by Argentina’s Fito Paez, immortalized by Mercedes Sosa, and a joyful version of Lágrimas Negras, the Cuban classic by Miguel Matamoros, with Spanish singer Pilar Boyero accompanying.
“That night, the Cuban, Spanish, and audiences from other latitudes gathered at the Auditorium and got to take home a piece of Cuba, a piece of Buena Fe’s heart,” Triana concluded.
This tour leaves us with several highlights. The first one is that the pride of being Cuban and the national culture overcomes hatred. The second one, Cuba is not alone, especially in difficult times. And the third one, intolerance towards our island does not push us away from the rest of the world. In recent weeks, Buena Fe has made itself known to new audiences, who have expressed solidarity with the duo and rejected the attempts to censor their artistic freedom. Due to the interest they raised, Buena Fe will return to Europe, possibly this year.
Through his Facebook page Buena Fe’s Israel Rojas sent a message to the president of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Damon Wilson, which funds groups like the fascists who attacked Buena Fe in Spain, about how their efforts had backfired in a big way. “We came to sing to our audience in Spain. Well, now we have reached many more people. I have been on more Latin American radio shows than ever in my life. The following of our music on digital platforms are in excellent health. In other words, you are being swindled, gentlemen of the NED!”
One concert participant shared with the news media CubaInformación: “The anti-Cuban people who wanted to boycott the last concert of the musical group Buena Fe went unnoticed at what was a great party. Buena Fe left promising to return, and we left promising to welcome them back.”
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English