“Patria y Vida”, which has become the anthem of citizen protests against the Cuban regime, reached the Latin Grammy for Best Urban Song and Best Song of the Year on Thursday.
From the awards ceremony in Las Vegas, Cuban rapper Eliécer Márquez Duany “El Funky”, one of the interpreters of the popular song, told Radio Martí about the Best Urban Song award that this is “an award for the freedom of Cuba “.
The rapper said that “Patria y Vida” is a song that “became of the people, and we do not send there, this award is for the people, for those 11 million inhabitants who are there, in the Cuban prison, under the Castro regime “.
The announcement of the first award, during the premiere of the 22nd edition of the event, took El Funky, Yotuel Romero, Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona by surprise, who were rehearsing for the acoustic presentation of Patria y Vida. Maykell Castillo El Osorbo, another interpreter of the song, is in prison in Cuba for political reasons.
“We have cried with joy (…). We already have one, the Song of the Year is now missing,” said El Funky while waiting for the announcement of the second award.
The Spanish singer Beatriz Luengo, who collected the first prize together with the guitarist and music producer Yadam González, spoke about what it means for Cubans who face repression for speaking their minds, and remembered women who have raised poetry and music as a flag of freedom, among them the poet Dulce María Loynaz, the singer Gloria Estefan and the great Celia Cruz.
“This is for my country, for freedom of expression and for the freedom of Cubans,” González said.
The second award, one of the most important of the night, was announced almost at the end of the event. The excited performers with tears in their eyes picked it up.
In an emotional message, Yotuel dedicated the award to “all the Latin mothers in the world who fight for the dream of each child, to Cuba libre and to El Osorbo.”
El Funky had said earlier on his Facebook account that today is “the celebration of the Grammy Awards. Regardless of whether it is won or not, that song has already given Cubans a lot and has put the dictatorship in check. I laugh. only when I think of the Cuban State and its deplo-cultural institutions, engrossed in proving that Maykel is not an artist and making a fool of himself. “
El Funky walked the awards red carpet wearing a T-shirt with the photo of his friend El Osorbo and the inscription Free Maykel.
Gloria Estefan is another of the Cuban stars who graced the night with a musical presentation. She and her husband Emilio Estefan received the award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album. In his speech of thanks, Emilio dedicated it to a Free Cuba. Gloria was unable to speak to the public at the time because she was preparing for her act.
At the beginning of the event, upon learning of the first prize, El Osorbo was able to communicate from the Kilo Cinco y Medio prison (Pinar del Río) with Carolina Barrero, who recorded an audio in which the celebration of other inmates is heard.
At midnight, Barrero received another call from El Osorbo and informed him about the second award. “Maykel knew that Patria y Vida won the award for best song of the year and he called again. He was serene. There was no affectation or pretense in his words. He told me again that this award was for the people of Cuba and he told me this short parable : in a race you put the lie three meters from the end and the truth at the start, and the truth always wins“.
During the last few months, the Cuban regime launched a campaign of discredit against the creators of “Patria y Vida”, and repressed people who sang or listened to the song in public.
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