Colombian rocker Juanes — discussing with fans and critics on
microblogging website Twitter — on Monday defended his plans to play in the
Cuban capital Havana.
Juanes had been criticized by Cubans in exile in the U.S. and was accused of being complicit with the Castro regime in Cuba, but Juanes, “taking advantage of the fact that I can’t sleep,” argued that the Cuban people should not be forgotten about.
The singer openly responded to questions of others active on the website, acknowledged the pain of Cubans in the U.S. and other countries, but stressed his concert was for the young people of Cuba, to whom he wants to “lend a hand.”
“Forget politics now! Think of the people,” Juanes wrote. “There is a future for Cuba, but we have to give them a hand, help them, open our minds to them, so that they do the same to us,” the singer added.
Juanes revealed that he himself had called the Cuban Ministry of Culture offering to do the show and was never asked by the Castro government to come. The rocker said he will be joined by Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz and Puerto Rican singer Olga Tañon for the September 20 concert.