Songs of Cuba, Silenced in America

"Vicki Mercer" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.org.ballistichelmet.heads
Message-ID <000601c40fcc$f2bfaf10$0a0110ac@cocos> 
We went to Jackson Browne's solo concert in San Jose on Saturday ('twas
great).  He mentioned that this would be in the NY Times.

_______________________________________________
heads mailing list
[email protected]
http://ballistichelmet.org/mailman/listinfo/heads/
http://ballistichelmet.org/donate/
22BROW.txt (text/plain, 8.1 KB) 
<BASE HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/22/opinion/22BROW.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=">








<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"/>
<html>
<head>

<script language="JavaScript">
if (document.layers) {
document.write("<link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'  href='http://www.nytimes.com/css/article.ns.css'>");	
}
else {
document.write("<link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'  href='http://www.nytimes.com/css/article.css'>");
}
</script>
<!--For theater article -->
<script type="text/JavaScript">
<!--
	
	function nameIt() {

		window.name = 'nytimesmain';
	}
	
	function pop_me_up2(pURL,name,features){
		new_window = window.open(pURL,name,features);
		new_window.focus();
	}
	
	function changeImage(image_name,image_src) {
   		document.images[image_name].src = image_src;
	}
	
	function goToURL(obj){
		var f = (obj.section) ? obj : obj.form;
		var selected = f.section.selectedIndex;
		var URL = f.section.options[selected].value;
		if (URL != "") document.location = URL;
		return false;
	}
	
	if (window.self != window.top) { 
		top.location.replace(window.location.href); 
	}
	
//-->
</script>
<title>Op-Ed Contributor: Songs of Cuba, Silenced in America</title>
<meta  http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta  name="ROBOTS" content="NOARCHIVE">
<meta  name="DISPLAYDATE" content="March 22, 2004">
<meta  name="hdl" content="Songs of Cuba, Silenced in America">
<meta  name="byl" content="By JACKSON BROWNE">
<meta  name="lp" content="We may think we are isolating Cuba by denying singer-songwriter Carlos Varela access to the U.S., but it is we Americans who are becoming isolated.">
<meta  name="cre" content="The New York Times">
<meta  name="pdate" content="20040322">
<meta  name="ttl" content=""> 
<meta  name="virtloc" content="">
<meta  name="des" content="Freedom and Human Rights">
<meta  name="per" content="Browne, Jackson">
<meta  name="org" content="">
<meta  name="geo" content="Cuba">
<meta  name="ticker" content="">
<meta  name="dat" content="March 22, 2004">
<meta  name="tom" content="Op-Ed">
<meta  name="cat" content="">
<meta  name="col" content="Op-Ed Contributor">
<meta  name="dsk" content="Opinion">
<meta  name="articleid" content="1079689820607">
<meta  NAME="ARTICLE_TEMPLATE_VERSION" CONTENT="500">
<script type="text/JavaScript">
	var google_hints = "Freedom+and+Human+Rights,Cuba";
	var google_ad_channel = "ar_opinion";
</script>

</head>

    


<body bgcolor="#ffffff" vlink="#444464" link="#000066" 
 marginheight="4" marginwidth="4" topmargin="4" leftmargin="4">

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">

<img src="http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/misc/logoprinter.gif" align="left" alt="The New York Times" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"><!-- ADXINFO classification="logo_strips" campaign="foxsearch50a-nyt5"--><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&camp=foxsearch50a-nyt5&ad=dreamers_pf_email.html&goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efoxsearchlight%2Ecom%2Fthedreamers%2Findex%5Fnyt%2Ehtml" target="_blank">
<img src="http://graphics7.nytimes.com/ads/fox/dreamers_pf_email.gif" alt="In America" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="10" align="right" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="31"></A><br clear="all"><hr size="1" align="left">
<h5>March 22, 2004</h5>
<NYT_KICKER >
<font color="#666666" size="-1"><strong>OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR</strong></font>
</NYT_KICKER>
<NYT_HEADLINE  version="1.0" type=" ">
<h2>Songs of Cuba, Silenced in America</h2>
</NYT_HEADLINE>
<NYT_BYLINE  version="1.0" type=" ">
<font size="-1"><strong>By JACKSON BROWNE</strong></font><br>
</NYT_BYLINE>
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  <tr><td> 
  </td></tr>
</table>
<NYT_TEXT>
<P><IMG src="http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/dropcap/l.gif" width="24" height="33" align="left" border="0" alt="L">OS ANGELES — Carlos Varela, the great Cuban singer-songwriter, applied for a visa to come to the United States to sing his powerful, amazing songs. He had concerts planned in Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Our government turned him down.</p>
<P>
Visas have been denied to other Cuban artists because their visits are "detrimental to the interests" of our country. In essence, the government says that if Carlos Varela plays concerts in the United States, the money he makes would go to Fidel Castro. This is untrue. In Cuba, renowned artists keep much of what they earn, because the government  does not want them to leave the country and live somewhere else. Yet, the Bush administration used the same reasoning to keep Ibrahim Ferrer, of the Buena Vista Social Club, and Manuel Galbán from attending   the Grammy award ceremony in Los Angeles last month. (Both men won awards.) </p>
<P>
It also forced the postponement of concerts by the Spanish flamenco master Paco de Lucía because he plays with Alain Pérez Rodríguez, a Cuban-born bassist. I congratulate the State Department on finally determining that Mr. Pérez is not "detrimental to the interests" of our country, although those of us who were able to reschedule and  hear him play this month know that he is a truly dangerous man.</p>
<P>
In a profound way, our government takes on the role of oppressor when it tries  to control which artists will be allowed access to our minds and our hearts. We may think we are isolating Cuba with our embargo and our travel restrictions, but it is we Americans who are becoming isolated. People travel to Cuba from Australia, Britain, Canada,  Italy and  Spain — countries  we consider  staunch allies.</p>
<P>
United States foreign policy toward Cuba is unpopular in America, and for good reason. It stops Americans from traveling to Cuba and Cubans from coming into the States. It stops us from sharing medicine with the ill and restricts our ability to sell food to the hungry. This policy is an outdated relic of the cold war and exists only as a political payoff to Republican-leaning Cuban-American voters in Miami.</p>
<P>
The policy of punishing Cuba  works only when Americans see the angry face of Cuban repression. But in the face of Carlos Varela, and the language of his music, Americans would not find the mask of a demon, but hear the aspirations of people just like themselves.</p>
<P>
Perhaps the most prominent paradox  here is that Carlos Varela is known not only for his talent, but also for his courage to speak out through his songs, many of which have been interpreted as critical of the Cuban government.</p>
<P>
While these young Cubans respect the accomplishments of their leaders, they are ready, indeed impatient, to run their own affairs. They want freedom for themselves and independence for their country. They want the new Cuba to be created by the Cuban people, not  by the United States.</p>
<P>
I believe in justice and human rights in the United States and abroad. I am saddened by the treatment by the Cuban government of the political dissidents in their country. I long for the day when there is freedom for both Cubans and Americans to travel in both directions across the Straits of Florida without undue interference by their governments.</p>
<P>
I want this freedom not just for artists but for all people, American and Cuban, who live  each day in  the hope for a just and prosperous future. Giving Carlos Varela a visa to sing in America would be a good way to begin.</p>
<!--author id start -->
</p>
<p><em>Jackson Browne, a singer-songwriter, was  inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15.</em></p>


</NYT_TEXT>
<br>
<center>
<NYT_COPYRIGHT>
<a href="/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html" class="footer">Copyright 2004</a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytco.com/" class="footer">The New York Times Company</a> | 
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/" class="footer">Home</a> | <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/privacy.html" class="footer">Privacy Policy</a> | <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/search/advanced/" class="footer">Search</a> | <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/corrections.html" class="footer">Corrections</a> | <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/membercenter/sitehelp.html" class="footer">Help</a> | <a href="#top" class="footer">Back to Top</a>
</NYT_COPYRIGHT>
</center>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>

</body>


</html>
lmpx.com only provides a reader for public news (NNTP) servers. It is not affiliated with the servers or forums shown here and is not responsible for the content of articles, which is written by their respective authors.