[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 23, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SONGS OF CUBA, SILENCED IN AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 2004

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues an article by singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, which 
appeared in yesterday's March 22, 2004, edition of the New York Times. 
As my colleagues are aware, for nearly three decades, Mr. Browne has 
been a popular and valuable contributor to American music and culture. 
Cementing his role and contributions to American culture, last week, on 
March 15th, Mr. Browne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of 
Fame.
  In his article, ``Songs of Cuba, Silenced in America,'' he laments 
and challenges the current U.S. policy of denying visas to Cuban 
artists who wish to perform and share their musical art with the U.S. 
public or who are being honored for their work by their American peers. 
I couldn't agree more with Mr. Browne when he describes these artists' 
work as a way for Americans to hear in song a reflection of the hopes, 
dreams and aspirations of the Cuban people--a cultural communication 
that is frustrated by a U.S. policy which aspires itself to suffocate 
all such contact and communication.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe that when change does come to Cuba we 
will deeply regret the lack of contact, communication, and genuine 
understanding between the United States and the people of Cuba. I 
believe the United States would better prepare for change by 
encouraging now the free exchange of ideas, the freedom of travel, the 
rich exchange of culture and heritage between our two peoples, 
including our artists and ordinary Americans.
  I want to thank Mr. Browne for sharing his views and insights, and I 
commend his article to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

               [From the New York Times, March 22, 2004]

                   Songs of Cuba, Silenced in America

                          (By Jackson Browne)

       Los 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.
       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 Galban 
     from attending the Grammy award ceremony in Los Angeles last 
     month. (Both men won awards.)
       It also forced the postponement of concerts by the Spanish 
     flamenco master Paco de Lucia because he plays with Alain 
     Perez Rodriguez, a Cuban-born bassist. I congratulate the 
     State Department on finally determining that Mr. Perez 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.
       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.
       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.
       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.
       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.
       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.
       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.
       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.

                          ____________________