[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 212 (Wednesday, December 8, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1337-E1338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING ``PATRIA Y VIDA'' (HOMELAND AND LIFE)

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARIO DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 8, 2021

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of the anthem 
of freedom, ``Patria y Vida'' (Homeland and Life) which became a mantra 
for thousands of Cubans who took to the streets to protest the brutal 
and murderous Cuban dictatorship.
  The song is a collaboration between Cuban musicians in exile and on 
the island who have come together in opposition to the regime, and who 
together are demanding freedom of expression and respect for human 
rights. The co-authors are Yotuel Romero, Beatriz Luengo, Maykel 
Osorbo, Eliecer Marquez Duany ``El Funky'', Descemer Bueno, Alexander 
Delgado and Randy Malcom. On November 18, 2021, ``Patria y Vida'' 
received two awards, Song of the Year and Best Urban Song at the 22nd 
Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
  Today, one of the co-authors of ``Patria y Vida,'' Maykel Castillo 
Perez (commonly known as Maykel Osorbo), and Luis Manuel Otero 
Alcantara of the San Isidro Movement who appears in the music video, 
remain incarcerated in maximum security prisons in Cuba for simply 
participating in this song and speaking out against oppression. Another 
co-author, Eliecer Marquez Duany ``El Funky,'' was sent into exile 
after being held on house arrest. These courageous artists suffer 
simply for voicing the fundamental freedoms that are the inherent 
rights of every person. They, and so many others in Cuba, have risked 
everything for freedom.
  Madam Speaker, the Cuban people will be free. Toward that goal, I am 
honored to highlight the importance of a song that has become an anthem 
for a movement, and for so many Cubans who are demanding freedom on the 
island. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this noble cause, 
in demanding that all political prisoners are released, basic rights to 
expression, assembly, and belief are respected, and free, fair and 
multiparty elections are scheduled.

                   Patria y Vida (Homeland and Life)

       Y eres tu mi canto de sirena (And you are my siren call)
       Porque con tu voz se van mis penas (Because with your voice 
     my sorrows go away)
       Y este sentimiento ya esta anejo (And this feeling is 
     already old)
       Tu me dueles tanto aunque estes lejos (You hurt me so much, 
     even though you are far away)
       Hoy yo te invito a caminar por mis solares (Today I invite 
     you to walk through my neighborhoods)
       Pa' demostrarte de que sirven tus ideales (To show you what 
     good your ideals are for)
       Somos humanos aunque no pensemos iguales (We are human 
     although we do not think alike)
       No nos tratemos ni danemos como animales (Let's not treat 
     or hurt each other like animals)
       Esta es mi forma de decirtelo (This is my way of telling 
     you)
       Llora mi pueblo y siento yo su voz (My people cry and I 
     feel their voice)
       Tu cinco nueve, yo doble dos (You five nine, me double 
     twos)
       Sesenta anos trancado el domino (Sixty years of a domino 
     stalemate)
       Bombo y platillo a los quinientos de la Habana (Pomp and 
     circumstance for the five hundred (years) of Havana)
       Mientras en casa en las cazuelas ya no tienen jama (While 
     the pots at home no longer have food)
       rQue celebramos si la gente anda deprisa? (What do we 
     celebrate if folks are scrambling?)
       Cambiando al Che Guevara y a Marti por la divisa (Trading 
     Che Guevara and Marti for currency)
       Todo ha cambiado ya no es lo mismo (Everything has changed, 
     nothing is the same)
       Entre tu y yo hay un abismo (Between you and me there is an 
     abyss)
       Publicidad de un paralso en Varadero (Advertising a 
     paradise in Varadero)
       Mientras las madres lloran por sus hijos que se fueron 
     (While mothers cry for their children who are gone)
       Se acabo, tu cinco nueve, yo doble dos (It's over, you five 
     nine, me double-twos)
       Ya se acabo, sesenta anos trancado el domino, mira (It's 
     over, sixty years of a domino stalemate, watch)
       Se acabo, tu cinco nueve, yo doble dos (It's over, you five 
     nine, me double-twos)
       Ya se acabo, sesenta anos trancando el domino (It's over, 
     sixty years of a domino stalemate)
       Somos artistas, somos sensibilidad (We are artists, we are 
     sensitivity)
       La historia verdadera, no la mal contada (The true story, 
     not the one that's falsely told)
       Somos la dignidad de un pueblo entero pisoteado (We are the 
     dignity of an entire people trampled on)
       A punta de pistola y de palabras que aun son nada (At 
     gunpoint and with words that are still worthless)
       No mas mentiras (No more lies)
       Mi pueblo pide libertad, no mas doctrinas (My people call 
     for freedom, no more doctrines)
       Ya no gritemos patria o muerte sino patria y vida (We no 
     longer shout homeland or death, instead homeland and life)
       Y empezar a construir lo que sonamos (And start building 
     what we dream of)
       Lo que destruyeron con sus manos (What they destroyed with 
     their hands)
       Que no siga corriendo la sangre (No more bloodshed)
       Por querer pensar diferente (For wanting to think 
     differently)
       rQuien le dijo que Cuba es de ustedes? (Who told you Cuba 
     is yours?)
       Si mi Cuba es de toda mi gente (Cuba belongs to all my 
     people)
       Se acabo, ya se vencio tu tiempo, se rompio el silencio 
     (It's over, your time has run out, the silence has been 
     broken)
       Ya se acabo, ya se acabo la risa y el llanto ya esta 
     corriendo (It's over, the laughs are over and the tears are 
     already flowing)
       Se acabo, y no tenemos miedo, se acabo el engana (It's 
     over, and we're not afraid, the deception is over)
       Ya se acabo, son sesenta y dos haciendo dano (It's over, 
     it's been sixty-two (years) doing harm)
       Alli vivimos con la incertidumbre del pasado, plantado (We 
     live with the uncertainty of the past, in a hunger strike)
       Quince amigos puestos, listos pa' morirnos (Fifteen friends 
     on (hunger) strike, ready to die)
       Izamos la bandera todavia la represion del regimen al dia 
     (We raise the flag, the repression from the regime continues 
     daily)
       Anamely Ramos firme con su poesia (Anamely Ramos steady 
     with her poetry)
       Omara Ruiz Urquiola dandonos aliento de vida (Omara Ruiz 
     Urquiola giving us strength of life)

[[Page E1338]]

       Rompieron nuestra puerta, violaron nuestro templo (They 
     kicked down our door, they violated our temple)
       Y el mundo esta consciente (And the world is aware)
       De que el Movimiento San Isidro continua puesto (The San 
     Isidro Movement continues firm)
       Seguimos en las mismas, la seguridad metiendo prisma (We 
     are in the same situation, state security watching)
       Esas cosas a mi como me indignan, se acabo el enigma (These 
     things outrage me; the enigma is over)
       Ya sa' tu revolucion maligna, soy Funky style, aqui tienes 
     mi firma (Enough of your evil revolution, I am Funky style, 
     here is my signature)
       Ya ustedes estan sobrando, ya no le queda nada, ya se van 
     bajando (You all are useless, you have nothing left, you're 
     in decline)
       El pueblo se canso de estar aguantando (The people are 
     tired of enduring)
       Un nuevo amanecer estamos esperando (We are awaiting a new 
     dawn)
       Se acabo, tu cinco nueve, yo doble dos (It's over, your 
     five nine, me, double-twos)
       Ya se acabo, sesenta anos trancado el domino, mira (It's 
     over, sixty years of a domino stalemate, watch)
       Se acabo, tu cinco nueve, yo, doble dos (It's over, your 
     five nine, me double-twos)
       Ya se acabo, sesenta anos trancando el domino (It's over, 
     sixty years of a domino stalemate)
       Patria y vida (Homeland and life)
       Patria y vida (Homeland and life)
       Patria y vida (Homeland and life)
       Sesenta anos trancado el domino (Sixty years of a domino 
     stalemate)

                          ____________________