#Gente de zona patria y vida full

The artists began working on it in Miami and sent it to Maykel Osorbo and El Funky, who are part of the San Isidro Movement that since 2018 has protested against the Cuban government. Romero, a member of the music group Orishas, raised the idea for the song. Romero’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the singer about the protests.

“I want them to say ‘it’s over with us.’ The lies are over, the deception is over, the torture is over, the imprisonment is over, the prisons are over.” “We all believe this is a song to freedom, a song to life, a song to the love for our land,” he said then in a video posted on Instagram. Since its release in mid-February, it was clear to Yotuel Romero that they wanted to encourage people to speak out against authoritarianism. “But we didn’t know it would get so far and we are very proud, honestly, for being the driving force behind the Cuban people to take to the streets to denounce everything that this dictatorship does.” “We knew that ‘Patria y vida’ was going to be a song that was going to greatly influence the thinking of Cubans,” he added. We are very proud,” said Randy Malcom, from the duo Gente de Zona, in a phone interview from Miami. “This is historic, this had never happened and people shout ‘homeland and life!’ in every street. “Patria y vida” is performed by Yotuel Romero, Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo and El Funky, who change the Cuban revolutionary slogan “homeland or death” created by Fidel Castro to: “No more lies, my people ask for freedom, no more doctrines / Let us no longer shout‘ Homeland or death’ but ‘Homeland and life’”. It is a verse of a song that has become the anthem of these protests and that emerged from artists who for the first time dared to express their disagreement with the government. “Well, I’m talking to you, aren’t I?” he replied.MEXICO CITY (AP) - The slogan “¡Patria y vida!” - “Homeland and life!” - is heard loudly during the demonstrations in Cuba.

We’ve been left with no other option but to be the voice of Cubans outside Cuba.” Last May, they told me I couldn’t play more concerts there. “I’ve been banned from the radio for a little under a year. “ has used COVID as an excuse to attack anyone who’s against the government,” says Bueno. Bueno and Gente de Zona both said they’re not allowed to perform on the island anymore. “They wanted to erase our slogan and we made it viral.”įor Bueno, Gente de Zona and Romero, the attacks, although hurtful, are moot. “#Patriaomuerte (Country or Death) thousands of us shouted last night,” he tweeted on Feb. Gente de Zona doesn’t represent me.”Īmong many other write-ups, the newspaper also quoted a statement written by the Association of Musicians from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, criticizing “personalities born and raised in our country, who use their voices to increase their mercenary popularity.”Įven Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has weighed in several times on his Twitter account, although without naming names.

#Gente de zona patria y vida full

“This song full of hate … that tries to exchange Cuba for 1 million YouTube views,” wrote Pedro Jorge Velázquez on Feb.