HAVANA (AP) — Hundreds of people on Tuesday attended a Mass in Havana to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Celia Cruz’s birth just days after Cuban authorities canceled a theater performance in honor of the revered singer without explanation, drawing criticism over what some say was an act of censorship.
Activities to remember the illustrious Cuban artist — one of the island’s most prominent voices internationally — were organized around the world except in Cuba, where she never returned after going into exile in the United States in 1960 and openly defining herself as a radical anti-Castro activist.
“She was an ambassador of Cuban music, of Cuban rhythms in the world... of our flavor, of our dances, of our joy, of ‘that’ contagious thing,” said Father Ariel Suárez during his homily.
He even recalled the popular cry that identified the singer’s performances: “Azúcar!”
“I thank God because she brought joy to many people, because she made Cuba a presence in the world,” the priest told those gathered at the Basilica of La Caridad in the populous neighborhood of Centro Habana.
An unforgiving government
The priest said the Mass was commissioned by a group of artists who admire Cruz.
Among those present were renowned artists including singer Haila María Mompié and musician Alaín Pérez, as well as the United States Chargé d’Affaires, Mike Hammer.
“Her songs give hope and joy, but she also wanted freedom for all the Cuban people, which is something we all desire, so for me it is a great honor to be here today, to remember her life,” Hammer told reporters after the Mass, which was not attended by any government official or Ministry of Culture representative.
Born in Havana on Oct. 21, 1925, Celia Cruz, nicknamed the “Guarachera of Cuba” and the “Queen of Salsa,” built a solid career as a vocalist on the island before going into exile in 1960 and settling in the United States, where she also became an icon for a highly politicized community opposed to the Cuban revolution led by the late leader, Fidel Castro.
The artist died in 2003 without returning to her homeland, although in 1990 she performed at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo, a territory under U.S. control that Havana historically has unsuccessfully claimed.
During her career, Cruz received little coverage in radio, television or print in Cuba, where authorities never forgave her for her hard alignment with the exile community and the United States.
An empty chair under spotlights
In anticipation of her centennial, the theater group El Público had announced a tribute performance at the prestigious Cuban Art Factory on Sunday. But a few hours before the performance, the state-run National Center for Popular Music announced briefly on social media that it would not take place. It did not provide an explanation.
There was no immediate reaction from the Cuban Art Factory. But on Monday, the organization posted a photo on its Facebook account that showed an empty chair on stage illuminated by overhead spotlights, a scene that remained in place for the duration of the canceled performance.
“A work of art that never was, a chair, silence, and the art of resistance,” read the post. “Celia Lives.”
Artists and musicologists protested on social media what they considered an arbitrary act of censorship by authorities.
A few weeks earlier, the Failde Orchestra had dedicated a segment of a concert to Celia Cruz’s centennial.
For musicologist Rosa Marquetti, the prohibition of the tribute is a “chapter” of “censorship and the application of political curatorial methods within Cuban culture,” she wrote on Facebook.
“They have spent 60 years trying — without success — to tarnish one of the most extraordinary trajectories of life in the cultural sphere in defense of an identity, with an unflinching sense of belonging.”
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