[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 134 (Tuesday, September 22, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H9739-H9741]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         OVER ONE MILLION ATTEND ``PAZ SIN FRONTERAS'' CONCERT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, on Sunday, a historic event took place 
in Havana, Cuba. An estimated 1.2 million people attended an all-star 
concert made up of many of the top Latin pop, rock and salsa stars from 
Latin America, Europe, Puerto Rico and Cuba.
  The concert, known as Paz Sin Fronteras, or Peace Without Borders, 
was the dream of Colombian singer, songwriter and multiple Latin Grammy 
winner Juanes and his two primary collaborators Miguel Bose of Spain 
and Olga Tanon of Puerto Rico.
  The message of the Peace Without Border concerts is to circumvent 
politicians, and using the medium of music, speak directly to young 
people and encourage them to think in fresh ways--to change their way 
of thinking--and leave behind the old politics, the old hatreds, 
prejudices and national enmities that have locked too many people into 
patterns of conflict, violence, poverty and despair, dividing them from 
one another. It is an attempt to break down barriers and ask people to 
join in common purpose.
  Both the United States and Cuban governments helped facilitate the 
concert, including providing Juanes and his company of 15 international 
and Cuban artists full control over message and staging. The 
Departments of State, Treasury and Commerce, and especially Secretary 
of State Hillary Clinton, are to be commended for providing in record 
time the various licenses and authorities required for U.S. musicians, 
technicians, musical and production equipment to travel and enter Cuba.
  This is the second Peace Without Borders concert organized by Juanes 
in what he hopes will be a series of concerts in the hemisphere in 
places where people, if not politicians, might be open to a message of 
change, especially young people, who are more readily engaged by the 
language of rock-and-roll. The first such concert took place last year 
on the Peace Bridge on the border of Colombia and Venezuela when 
military tensions escalated between the two countries.
  I applaud Juanes and all the participating artists for their courage, 
their vision and commitment to working together to communicate directly 
to the Cuban people through the language of music.
  More than just a rock concert, this massive cultural event in Havana 
was a moving and emotional testament, even to many of its critics, 
about the power of the human spirit to reach across barriers during 
times of tension and opportunities. The ripples and waves created by 
this concert are just beginning to be felt in Cuba, the United States 
and throughout the hemisphere. I very much look forward to supporting 
other Paz Sin Fronteras initiatives in the future.
  Madam Speaker, I include the following materials for the Record.

               [From the Washington Post, Sept. 21, 2009]

             In Castro Country, Giving a Concert for Peace

                           (By William Booth)

       Havana.--Rock-and-roll diplomacy came to the communist isle 
     on a smoldering afternoon, as hundreds of thousands of Cubans 
     filled the Plaza of the Revolution on Sunday and sang along 
     to a dozen international musical acts led by the Colombian 
     singer and peace activist Juanes.
       The free ``Peace without Borders'' concert was criticized 
     by hard-line Cuban exiles in Miami as a propaganda coup for 
     the Castro brothers, and that it might have been. But for 
     thousands of young Cubans, it was a rare treat to hear a 
     lineup of global Latin music stars, such as Olga Tanon of 
     Puerto Rico and Miguel Bose of Spain.
       Under the watchful gaze of a huge mural of Ernesto ``Che'' 
     Guevara, and beneath the socialist slogan ``Always Toward 
     Victory!'' on the side of the Ministry of Interior building, 
     there was no trouble from the mostly young crowd. Many were 
     dressed in white, in keeping with the peaceful vibe.
       From the stage, framed by giant posters of a white dove, 
     musicians offered hopeful but admittedly vague appeals for 
     change, solidarity and, of course, peace. Bose told the crowd 
     that ``the greatest dream we can live is to dream the dream 
     of peace.'' He also announced that there were more than a 
     million people in the square, though there were no official 
     estimates.
       Tanon shouted that she brought greetings from Miami--home 
     of many Cuban exiles who live in opposition to the Cuban 
     government--and no one in the crowd booed, but instead 
     whistled and cheered.
       The United States has pursued a policy of economic embargo 
     and diplomatic freeze

[[Page H9740]]

     against Cuba for almost 50 years, hoping to topple the 
     government, to no avail. Despite promises by President Obama, 
     change in the U.S.-Cuba relationship has been slow in coming.
       In an interview aired Sunday on the Spanish-language 
     network Univision, Obama acknowledged that the concert would 
     only go so far. ``I certainly don't think it hurts U.S.-Cuban 
     relations,'' he said. ``I wouldn't overstate the degree that 
     it helps.''
       The plaza is iconic as the scene of some of Fidel Castro's 
     biggest rallies and longest speeches, though he has not been 
     seen in public for almost three years, after intestinal 
     surgery. Anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Miami have voiced heated 
     opposition to the concert, saying it only served to support 
     the government here, which would milk the event for publicity 
     even as it imprisons hundreds of political dissidents.
       Because of his participation, Juanes has received death 
     threats. But some of the pressure on him eased when, earlier 
     this month, 24 of the 75 Cuban opposition leaders arrested in 
     a 2003 crackdown on dissent signed a letter saying the show 
     must go on.
       ``We came to Cuba with love. We have overcome fear to be 
     with you, and we hope that you too can overcome it,'' Juanes 
     told the masses. ``All the young people, from Miami in the 
     United States and in all the cities, must understand the 
     importance of turning hate into love.''
       More than 100 buses could be counted bringing young people 
     to the concert. ``This is the best concert to come to Cuba 
     in, like, 50 years,'' said Yeilene Fernandez, a student at 
     the University of Havana who was dancing with friends.
       Sitting in his hotel room on the eighth floor of the Hotel 
     Nacional the night before the show, Juanes was typing out 
     messages for his Twitter followers. He was wearing a silver 
     crucifix, jeans and a T-shirt. ``It's important to do this. I 
     know this in my heart,'' he said. ``Our region, Latin 
     America, is very complicated right now. We're all going our 
     separate ways because of our ideologies. It's time to change 
     our minds, to do something beyond politics, for young 
     people.''
       Juanes had previously met with Obama administration 
     officials, and being a 17-time Latin Grammy winner who has 
     become a kind of roving diplomat in Latin America, he got to 
     see Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She gave her 
     blessing to his participation in the concert.
       ``We asked what they thought, and they said, `Go ahead.' 
     She was very positive,'' he said. ``Me, I am Colombian, so I 
     didn't need to ask permission. But we did need permission for 
     all our staff, and they said sure.''
       Juanes said he asked some artists to come, ``but they were 
     afraid. Latin artists, we live in Miami, and when you live in 
     Miami, anything to do with Cuba is always a challenge. Some 
     people in Miami are against anything to do with Cuba. Some 
     are in the middle. And the young people, they definitely 
     support cultural exchange.''
       Next up in that exchange: The New York Philharmonic is 
     coming to play a series of concerts at the Teatro Amadeo 
     Roldan in Havana at the end of October.
       ``I see an increase in these cultural exchanges, and I 
     think it's healthy, it's a step in the right direction,'' 
     said Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico, in an 
     interview. He traveled this month to Cuba to discuss trade 
     issues with the government.
       In Havana on Sunday, those who were not at the Plaza of the 
     Revolution watched the concert on rickety old TV sets in 
     airless living rooms--or sat in their front courtyards to 
     catch the breeze and listened to the show on the radio.
       The artists performed free and covered the cost of shipping 
     stage and sound equipment from Miami for the mega-concert. 
     The Cuban government provided logistical and technical 
     support. Juanes insisted that the signal from the show is 
     free to use, download or broadcast anywhere in the world.
       Juanes performed his first ``Peace without Borders'' 
     concert on the frontier between Colombia and Venezuela last 
     year during a time of heightened animosity between the 
     countries. He said he would like to perform a third peace 
     concert at the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, 
     Mexico. A vicious battle between street dealers and drug 
     cartels, fighting among themselves and against federal 
     troops, has left more than 1,600 people dead this year, 
     making Juarez the most violent city in the world.
       Juanes said: ``I am from Colombia. I have no idea what it 
     means to live in peace.''
                                  ____


                [From the Miami Herald, Sept. 20, 2009]

                       This Is the Power of Music

                   (By Lydia Martin and Jordan Levin)

       As a sea of revelers jammed Havana's Plaza de la 
     Revolucion, Puerto Rico's Olga Tanon opened the controversial 
     Peace without Borders concert Sunday with a sentiment that, 
     despite all the debate on both sides of the Florida Straits, 
     simply could not be disputed:
       ``Together, we are going to make history!'' she yelled. And 
     the multitude, wearing white and hoisting colorful umbrellas 
     that did little to alleviate the punishing heat, cheered. 
     Then Tanon kicked off her performance with a merengue that, 
     at least in Miami, seemed to carry a double meaning.
       ``Es mentiroso ese hombre,'' she sang. That man is a liar.
       But whether she chose the lyrics as a dig to either or both 
     of the Castro brothers seemed less relevant than the overall, 
     palpable joy in the plaza.
       Then, at the very end of the show, a major surprise from 
     Colombian pop star Juanes, who was criticized by a segment of 
     the exile community for organizing the concert because they 
     believed it would lend support to the Castro regime. Juanes, 
     who had insisted the concert had nothing to do with politics, 
     made it political after all, to much approval from Miami's 
     naysayers.
       He moved away from the day's ambiguities and shouted a 
     straightforward ``Cuba libre! Cuba libre!'' (Free Cuba!) And 
     then he chanted, ``One Cuban family! One Cuban family!''
       Reached by phone in Havana shortly after the concert ended, 
     Juanes said the day was indeed about much more than music.
       ``There aren't words to talk about something so huge, 
     something that's so beyond music,'' he said. ``This is the 
     power of art, the power of music. We're so happy because the 
     people are happy, and that's what matters to us.''
       The crowd, which Juanes said from the stage was estimated 
     at 1.1 million, was mostly young people; many had arrived as 
     early as 7 a.m. to stake out spots near the stage. Although 
     several trucks around the perimeter dispensed cold water, 
     many people in the middle of the crowd could not reach them. 
     Dozens of concertgoers who had been in the sun for hours 
     passed out.
       Yonder, 25, and his girlfriend Yaima, 19, retreated from 
     the front of the stage after Yaima fainted. She lost a shoe 
     in the crowd. ``She bent down to try to find it but wound up 
     grabbing somebody else's shoes that were lost,'' Yonder said. 
     ``There is a lot of pushing and shoving. There are shoes and 
     sunglasses all over the ground.''
       (The couple did not want their last names printed.)
       The likeness of communist hero Che Guevara towered over the 
     plaza that has been the site of endless political harangues 
     by Fidel Castro over 50 years of dictatorship. But judging 
     from the dancing, singing and arm-waving, what mattered most 
     in Havana, at least for a few hours, was the partying 
     inspired by this unprecedented mega-concert.


                             MIXED REACTION

       Toward the end of the show, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 
     (R-Miami) said in an interview with WLTV-Univision 23 that 
     the event had been a triumph for the Castro regime, because 
     there was no mention from the stage about Cuba's human-rights 
     violations or about the many political prisoners who were 
     behind bars for opposing the government. But many others in 
     Miami called it a good start in trying to bridge the divide 
     between the island and the exile community.
       Whatever the show's lasting effects, it was still historic. 
     All of Havana seemed mesmerized; as one walked the city's 
     streets every TV set seemed to be blasting the concert. Never 
     had the plaza, where Pope John Paul II addressed the Cuban 
     people in 1998, been used for a such a lighthearted purpose. 
     Never had the Cuban people been treated to such a musical 
     blowout by major foreign acts--something for which the island 
     is always thirsty.
       And never had Miami watched a live show from Havana. It was 
     carried by local Spanish-language stations and by 
     Univision.com. Channel 23 tagged it ``Concert of Discord.''
       As with most matters related to Cuba, the gray shades of 
     debate clouded the days leading up to the concert, which 
     featured 15 artists from six countries, including such big 
     stars from the island as Los Van Van and Silvio Rodriguez, 
     government-backed and government-backing performers. Some 
     Miami exiles criticized Juanes for agreeing to share the 
     stage with them.
       Members of the Cuban American National Foundation, which 
     seeks to bring democracy to the communist island, tuned in 
     from the Kendall home of president Francisco ``Pepe'' 
     Hernandez.
       They watched in awe as Juanes performed, his lyrics and 
     short speeches flirting with political commentary.
       ``To go to that same plaza--where [Cubans] have been forced 
     to listen to things they don't believe in--for music? It's 
     great,'' Hernandez said. To him, the concert symbolized a 
     sharp turn away from isolationist policies used by pro-
     democracy Cuban exile groups during the last 50 years.
       ``I hope that all of the young people in the United States, 
     in Miami, everywhere, lose their fear and change hate for 
     love,'' Juanes told the audience.
       Although the performers had agreed to not make overt 
     political statements, the possibilities of political 
     interpretation seeped into many of their songs. ``Down with 
     the control. Down with those who manipulate you'' chanted a 
     female rapper with X Alfonso, a Cuban rap and funk artist.
       ``We're all here together--for the dream of concord, for 
     the dream of dialogue!'' said Spanish pop singer Miguel Bose. 
     He was joined by Cuban singer-songwriter Carlos Varela for 
     Varela's Muro (Wall), which Bose has recorded, about longing 
     for the outside world from Cuba's seawall.


                             SONG OF PEACE

       No one's songs were more emotionally loaded than those of 
     Juanes, who took the stage to chants of his name. ``I can't 
     believe it. This is the most beautiful dream of peace and 
     love,'' he said. ``Whatever differences we have, at the end 
     we are all brothers.'' He then launched into A Dios le pido 
     (I'll Ask God), his huge hit that pleads for peace. Most of 
     his statements, until his strong words at the end, were 
     general but carried the possibly of much meaning.

[[Page H9741]]

       ``Youth of Cuba, of Latin America, the future is in your 
     hands, guys!'' he said before singing No creo en el jamas (I 
     Don't Believe in Never), which calls for hope against all 
     odds. He turned the rocker Suenos (Dreams), about a 
     kidnapping victim who longs for home, into a quiet ballad, 
     telling the audience ``this song is for everyone who is 
     imprisoned unjustly and seeks liberty!''
       ``Juanes is so brave,'' said Gabriela, 14, who went to the 
     show with her sister, mother and grandmother. ``He didn't 
     have to come here and confront all of those people who were 
     against him. He did it because he wanted to sing for us. For 
     Cuba.''
       Many Cubans in Miami watched with conflicted feelings.
       ``This is supposed to be a concert for peace, but there is 
     no peace without political discourse or democracy in Cuba,'' 
     said paralegal Blanca Meneses, who lives in the Doral area. 
     ``But I feel for the people in Cuba, because, obviously, they 
     are enjoying this from a musical perspective. The truth is, I 
     thought nothing good could come of this concert. But I did 
     think that when Juanes and Bose were singing `Libertad, 
     libertad,' that was a positive message to the people of 
     Cuba.''
                                  ____


                [From the Miami Herald, Sept. 21, 2009]

        A Day After Juanes' Show, Emotions in Miami Still Mixed

                           (By Jordan Levin)

       When Fabio Diaz settled in with 15 members of his extended 
     Cuban family to watch Colombian singer Juanes' historic 
     concert in Havana on television Sunday, he--and the rest of 
     his clan--had mixed feelings. Diaz, who is 35 and came to 
     Miami at 19, thought the event should have been staged in an 
     intermediary location between the island and Miami, as a 
     bridge between the two sides. And he wanted Juanes to speak 
     out directly about freedom in Cuba.
       But as he and his family watched the show, which aired live 
     from Havana on three Miami Spanish-language television 
     stations--itself an unprecedented event--Diaz said his 
     feelings overpowered his doubts. ``What I loved was seeing so 
     much of the Cuban people--and I feel completely Cuban--all 
     together for a celebration and not for something political,'' 
     Diaz says.
       Much of Cuban and Latino Miami witnessed that celebration 
     via their television and computer screens. Univision's 
     Channel 23 in Miami drew 220,000 viewers for their five-hour 
     long broadcast, and 140,000 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico 
     watched on the network's website. Telemundo's afternoon-long 
     coverage on its Channel 51 in Miami drew triple their normal 
     viewership, and more than 600,000 visits to their website 
     which streamed the show--more than four times the usual web 
     traffic for that time period.
       Emotions in Miami were mixed about the show, which drew 
     hundreds of thousands of people to pack Havana's Plaza de la 
     Revolucion on Sunday for performances by 15 artists from six 
     countries. (Spanish singer Miguel Bose announced from the 
     stage that the audience was 1.15 million).
       A protest by exile group which brought a small steamroller 
     to Calle Ocho to run over Juanes' CD's, sparked a counter 
     demonstration that led to physical clashes between the two 
     sides.
       Some callers to radio talk shows were happy that, as one 
     woman put it, ``young Cubans had the chance to feel happy for 
     one day'' while others felt that the joyful image on 
     television was far from Cuban reality. And some exiles 
     remained disenchanted and angry that the show did not 
     directly address problems and repression in Cuba.
       ``It's not about foreign musicians singing in Cuba,'' said 
     Esperanza Brigante. ``A real concert for peace should start 
     by denouncing the human rights violations that plague the 
     island . . . because we all know this is a political show.''
       But there was a strong, often emotional response at seeing 
     the sea of young Cuban faces, and a sense that the concert 
     signaled a turning point in exile attitudes towards Cuba. ``I 
     was very moved,'' said Ana Maria Perez Castro, 38, who came 
     from the island in 1979. She watched the entire concert at 
     home with her 16-year-old son.
       Castro said she cried during the performance of Cucu 
     Diamantes, a Cuban-American singer with the U.S.-based group 
     Yerbabuena. ``She's also Cuban and she left, and to see her 
     going back and performing for her people in her country was 
     very emotional,'' Castro said. ``I could totally connect to 
     the message to break that barrier, that fear which is what 
     keeps all this old mentality intact.''
       Juanes, who was traveling Monday and could not be reached, 
     was optimistic that the show had achieved his goal of helping 
     to bring people together.
       ``Today the hearts of everyone here have changed. Cuba 
     cannot be the same after this event,'' the multi-Grammy 
     winning rock star told The Herald from Havana Sunday evening. 
     ``This event reaffirmed the necessity for all of us to unite. 
      . . . The government of the U.S. has to change and Cuba has 
     to change too. But this show of love and peace and affection 
     is so important for both sides.''
       Juanes has said hopes to stage the next Paz Sin Fronteras 
     concert on the U.S.-Mexico border between Ciudad Juarez, 
     where violent clashes between drug gangs and authorities have 
     made the most violent city in the world, and El Paso, Texas.
       That the Havana concert was allowed to take place at all, 
     with so many people allowed to come together freely in the 
     largest non-governmental gathering since the Pope visited 
     Cuba in 1998, was itself indicative that Cuba was changing, 
     said Fernand Amandi, executive vice-president of Bendixen & 
     Associates, a public opinion research firm which specializes 
     in the Cuban-American community.
       ``More than anything [the concert] underscores the fact 
     that Cuba and relations with Cuba are undergoing a dramatic 
     transformation that is irreversible,'' Amandi said. ``At the 
     end of the day it is simply a concert . . . But you're 
     beginning to see a loosening of the very rigid, very 
     totalitarian Cuba . . . while it is still totalitarian, the 
     government is probably beginning to recognize that it cannot 
     survive in the future by further isolating itself.''
       Another change, said Amandi, was an increased acceptance of 
     differing points of view in the exile community, and 
     frustration with the strife that often seems to dominate 
     discussion of Cuba. On radio talkshows people were critical 
     of the media focus on the raucous clash between anti and pro 
     concert demonstrators in Little Havana. Many more Cuban-
     Americans ``that have never agreed with the hardline stance 
     are no longer afraid to speak up,'' Amandi said.
       On the island, Cuba's best-known blogger, Yoani Sanchez, 
     gave an insider's view of the concert in frequent posts on 
     her website, www.desdecuba.com, and her Facebook page. She 
     also uploaded a video of the concert on YouTube--``from the 
     people's point of view'' which shows she is wearing an olive 
     green T-shirt with the Generation Y logo.
       ``I didn't go dressed in white to the concert for peace, 
     but I opted for the color of freedom, which is the color each 
     of us chooses to wear,'' she said. ``The color each one of us 
     chooses--that's the color that I like.''
       To Diaz, what finally mattered most was that the concert 
     brought the world a glimpse of Cuba and its hopes to him and 
     to the world. ``We could tell that Juanes's goal really was 
     to bring a moment of happiness to the people,'' he said. 
     ``And I think he did this. And I think the world should see 
     1,150,000 Cubans there who hope for change, for peace, for 
     understanding of dialogue, and that history has to take 
     another direction.''

                          ____________________