In statements to Prensa Latina after visiting Guatemala for nearly a month, the young author of albums like “Quedado en La Habana” (Staying in Havana) compared a tour of South America that he took in 2004 with what he found now in this Central American country.
On that trip to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, although there were great figures of the genre on the continent, I did not find this level of contact with people who sing in different places, the young musician noted.
It is a process and, within this, Cuba’s singer songwriters’ movement really nourished many cultists, countless souls, many people live by singing songs by Silvio Rodríguez, by Pablo Milanés, he stressed.
He added that he and Cuban singer Karel García were invited to Guatemala by the local committee of La Tropa Cósmica (founded in 1996 after the first virtual experience of the composer of Ojala and Unicornio with his followers).
This group of people from Latin America gathers above all around the work of Silvio Rodríguez and, therefore, the Cuban New Song Movement, Cuba, the Cuban Revolution and its culture, the guitarist added.
We accompanied them at his National Meeting, with a marked presence of National Hero José Martí, remembering his time in this city, which undoubtedly was also the axis of many things, he noted.
The Cuban Apostle’s visit here really paved new paths, because all of us Cuba know the enormous ability he had to be ecumenical, to inspire people, the singer songwriter emphasized.
We made songs for La Tropa Cósmica, some concerts, we performed in the department of Quetzaltenango (Xela), in TrovaJazz, which is a beautiful project with more than 20 years preserving Cuban songs and developing Guatemalan songs, he said.
He mentioned local singer-songwriters like Erick Carrillo, Jandir Rodríguez, Rony Manuel Hernández, as well as Rafael Jaén and Coki Valdés, who together do a beautiful job, he commented.
The singer songwriter affirmed that Guatemala is a very beautiful country, with a rich culture, and described the affection he received as exaggerated.
In 2000, Rodríguez organized a tour of different cities in Honduras, where Cuban doctors worked, and here he saw fit to repeat his art before a representation of the internationalist brigade of medical professionals.
Together with García, Jaén and Berny Gómez, they entertained a memorable cultural evening for those who have been giving the gift of health and love uninterruptedly for 25 years in the most distant and difficult places in this country.
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