In the beginning of August 2009, the Colombian singer Juanes announced that he will stage a second Concert for Peace. The first one was staged at the border between Colombia and Venezuela in 2008. The next venue for this concert will be in Cuba and the date will be on the 20^th of September 2009.

The concert has not been without controversy with certain members of the Cuban American community protesting the concert. The US Latin Station America Teve had certain segments dedicated to the polemic concert.

One of the programmes of this TV Station called “Pellizcame Que Estoy So~nando” [Pinch Me I Must Be Dreaming] carried a satire of the song made famous by Juanes called “Camisa Negra” [Black Shirt]. The people that recorded the satire are named the Pichi Boys and the title of the satire is “Camisa Roja” [Red Shirt].

Teresa Rodriguez who is the presenter for the Univision program “Aqui y Ahora” [Her and Now] interviewed Juanes in his home in Miami Florida. He said that the Spanish Singer Miguel Bose and Puerto Rican Singer Olga Ta~non will perform him. The Cuban performers will be Los Van Van and Silvio Rodriguez.

Juanes in his interview denied that he was a Communist. He said that he could care less about the politics and more about bringing music to a country that needs peace. When Teresa Rodriguez asked him to elaborate, the response of Juanes was to say that a country “that does not have freedom as we know it could not be at peace”.

He further elaborated that in the countries where he has visited, he has not seen peace. Juanes talked about how even in supposedly peaceful countries, there is violence of all types including psychological. He also stated that he did not want to offend people who has suffered under the rule of Castro and even mentioned the visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba.

Willie Chirino who is a Cuban singer who has lived in Miami Florida since the 1960’s disagrees with Juanes. He stated that the government of Cuba does not permit singers from the Cuban Community in America to perform yet singers from Cuba could perform in the USA. His declarations were in a separate interview for the program/

Emilio Estefan [Gloria Estefan’s husband and one of the founders of Miami Sound Machine] has repeated his opposition to the upcoming concert in a separate interview.  

Teresa Rodriguez asked Juanes about how he could reconcile “singing in a country whose government supports terrorism in his country Colombia”. He again reiterated that his concert is a concert for peace with the hope “to change minds to a culture of peace”.

When asked about possible boycotts of his records and concerts, his response was “It is a risk that has to be taken”. It remains to be seen how this will transpire and evolve.

http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=2046409

 http://my.nowpublic.com/culture/juanes-defends-cuba-concert-peace