In 1978, I was lucky enough to be at Carnegie Hall for a surprise
appearance by one of the hottest bands on planet earth, Irakere, from Cuba.
At that time, relations between Cuba and the United States were difficult
at best but somehow, the group transcended immigration bureaucracy and
played music that electrified the audience, particularly the solos of
trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, alto saxman Paquito D'Rivera and
the pianist, Chucho Valdes.
Twenty years later, Castro is still in power, clinging to Communism, and
relations between the US and Cuba have deteriorated.
Paquito D'Rivera came to the US during the Mariel Boat Exodus in 1980,
Arturo Sandoval, with the help of Dizzy Gillespie, defected in 1989, but
Chucho Valdes has remained a Cuban citizen, making an occasional
appearances in the US yet still touring internationally with Irakere.
Chucho was supposed to play a two week engagement at the Village Vanguard
in New York this month. But thanks to the United States INS (Immigration
and Naturalization Service) Chucho's gig was cut from twelve days down to
five. They wouldn't give him a visa.
Is this because Chucho Valdes, one of the great pianists of our time, is a
threat to national security? No, Chucho's immigration problem comes from
a judgment made by an immigration official that his visit was of a
commercial and not cultural nature.
In 1996 Senator Jesse Helms, who spent most of the 80s trying to dismantle
the National Endowment for the Arts, together with Representative Dan
Burton, Witch Hunter-in-Chief for the ultra-right Republican Party, put
together something called the Helms Burton Act or the "Cuban Liberty and
Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD)
Act."
This law is based on lies and lives off deceit. For more than three
decades, the United States has embargoed Cuba in an unsuccessful effort to
force Fidel Castro from power. The Helms-Burton law tightened the economic
sanctions and its opponents of the law feared it would hurt the Cuban
people, not Castro and of course they were right. Helms-Burton is supposed
to move Cuba toward democracy by isolating Cuba
and tightening sanctions.
Rather than promoting peaceful change in Cuba, however, the law hurts the
Cuban people. It even helps keep Castro in power: Using the law as
justification, Castro has cracked down on journalists and dissidents,
solidifying his own position while suppressing the opposition. Cuba's
dissidents refer derisively to it as the Helms-Burton-Castro Act.
No country in the world follows the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
A by-product of this legislation is that Cuban artists now have great
difficulty getting visas to appear in America. Our government is worried
that if Cuban artists appear in the US, they might just take home some US
dollars.
And so Chucho Valdes was denied an extended visa to appear in this country.
When I emailed Senator Helms to inquire about the effect of his law on
Cuban artists, I received the following reply:
Dear Friend:
Many thanks for contacting me at my electronic mailbox address. I commend
you for taking advantage of this latest method of communication. I must
admit, however, that for an old newspaper man who still punches out letters
on a manual typewriter, this innovation is mind-boggling.
Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to respond by e-mail inasmuch as
we receive between 1,000 to 2,000 letters a week.
Sincerely,
Jesse Helms
United States Senator
That's democracy in action. I'd be willing to bet that the tobacco company
lobbyists who finance his campaigns have no trouble reaching this hate
monger.
Last year, Arturo Sandoval applied for US citizenship. His application was
denied on the grounds that he was a member of the Communist Party in Cuba.
The faceless bureaucrat who denied Sandoval's petition probably didn't even
bother to study the case.
Sandoval is a trumpet player, he's no communist but he was forced to sign a
statement saying that he was a member of the party so that his wife and
children could leave the country to join him on tour. It was on that tour
that he was able to defect and come to America. After Sandoval's
citizenship was denied, a firestorm of controversy developed, petitions
were signed, by fans of the trumpeter and Congressmen, and he reapplied.
He was told that a decision would be forthcoming within one month. It is
now six months later. The INS has refused to even acknowledge his
re-application. Calls by Sandoval's lawyer to the INS are not returned.
And now Chucho Valdes has become the latest scapegoat in the INS/US
government vendetta against Cuban artists. When Chucho's attorney applied
for a visa, under the provisions of the Helms Burton Act, he had to
document that Chucho's appearances in the US would be of cultural and not
commercial nature. A two week engagement at the Village Vanguard, an
appearance at Blues Alley in Washington and the Conga Room in LA were
deemed too commercial so a number of workshops were set up. Everything
seemed to be in order but at the last minute, four days before Chucho was
set to open at the Vanguard, the visa application was denied.
It takes a Cuban artist twenty one days to get a security clearance to
appear in the US. Chucho Valdes has appeared here a number of times in the
past two decades and each time, it's the same routine. Bill Martinez, a
San Francisco based attorney and promoter reports that it's not just Chucho
but all Cuban artists who have to endure this
indignity. In addition to the artists and the audience, promoters suffer
as well with a loss of credibility and revenue.
Lorraine Gordon was able to have the Vanguard Orchestra fill in at the last
moment and play the club in Chucho's absence, hoping that the pianist
might at least be able to play the second week of the engagement. Sure
enough, the INS finally relented and Chucho got a visa. He flew in
Wednesday night and went directly to the club.
I was in the audience Thursday night and can report the music was quite
powerful. On June 16, Blue Note Records will release a new recording by
this keyboard master, "Bele Bele En Havana." If it's anything like the
music I heard at the Vanguard, it should be on many "Best of 98" lists.
As our First Amendment rights are slowly being eroded, it might only be a
matter of time before the government of the United States decides what we
play, and hear, musically. And if our present nascent police state evolves
into full blown fascism and pea brained politicians like Jesse Helms and
Dan Burton set the agenda, we're in deep trouble.
I once wrote a play called "All Saxophonists Will Be Shot on Sight," about
a future society where musicians are forbidden to play improvised music.
In this drama, the government allows only certain "approved" songs to be
played. Improvisers are sent to re-education camps to learn the correct
"songs."
"Where there is secrecy, there is no truth; where there is no truth, there
is no justice; where there is no justice, there is no freedom."
