Díaz-Canel wants to include reggaeton artists "in the cultural policy of the Cuban Revolution."

Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel admitted this Saturday the failure of Decree Law 349 and the "elitist" aspirations of his cultural policy, acknowledging that urban genres like reggaeton continue to dominate the musical landscape of the Island.

In this regard, he took the opportunity during the closing of the X Congress of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) to urge the regime's official intellectuals not to overlook what is happening in this musical sphere and to pay attention "from the institutions to the new cultural expressions that are emerging."

"Expressions of disdain or underestimation are still visible from sometimes elitist positions. We are facing a cultural phenomenon that transcends tastes that have been entrenched for decades due to its strong social component and reach," Díaz-Canel stated, referring to urban genres, particularly reggaeton, without mentioning them directly.

After years of official cultural policy that opposed the "vulgarity" of urban music lyrics, particularly those of reggaeton, the regime has ultimately accepted its defeat in the face of its inability to drive them out of the musical preferences of the youth.

Censored from music broadcasts since 2012, Cuban reggaeton faced an even greater wave of censorship and criticism following the approval of Decree Law 349 in February 2019, known as the "gag law," which requires Cuban musicians and artists to professionalize and connect with the Ministry of Culture, subjecting themselves to the regime's cultural guidelines.

"Reggaeton will no longer be heard in public places in Cuba, as well as other similar genres that use vulgar, trivial, and mediocre expressions," stated Orlando Vistel Columbié, then president of the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM), in 2012.

In November 2017, the state newspaper Juventud Rebelde published a lengthy article aimed at "characterizing trap as a depiction of offensive sexual acts for many people, as well as promoting drugs and addictions, gender violence, prostitution, weapon handling, and crime."

A year later, the Cuban pianist José María Vitier criticized the lack of values in reggaeton lyrics in an interview with the digital newspaper The Objective. "Reggaeton is like those new diseases that no one knows how to cure," the artist stated, lamenting the "marginal music that has dominated the media."

However, despite the official "cultural offensive," reggaeton continued to play on the speakers of the Cuban people and enjoyed success among its artists. Faced with this reality, the Cuban regime has chosen to abandon its previous policy and seek the support of artists and fans of the urban genre, aiming to incorporate them into “the cultural policy of the Cuban Revolution.”

"From these cultural expressions, primarily stemming from music, ideas, values, life concepts, and signs of shifts in cultural paradigms are emerging that we cannot ignore or neglect," Díaz-Canel noted this Saturday.

According to the state-run portal Cubadebate, the leader who in 2019 stated that he "had nothing against reggaeton" warned that "by being absent from the phenomenon and staying on the sidelines, we will never be able to influence its creations or incorporate them into the cultural policy of the Cuban Revolution."

"The fact that subversive laboratories based in the United States have recently turned to representatives of this genre to reach popular sectors is a significant indication of the impact they have on increasingly larger segments of the country, which we also need to know how to reach. This is linked to culture and the Revolution," concluded the leader of the so-called "continuity."

The expressions that classified reggaeton lyrics among intellectuals as “vulgar, trivial, and mediocre” and “pseudo-artistic deliveries” have now faded, as calls for “the promotion of good taste” have become less prominent.

Now, in light of the undeniable triumph of so-called “bad taste,” the Cuban regime is eager to shift its narrative and calls on its intellectuals to “perrear” as a form of “creative resistance” suited to these times.

"Although it pains us, reggaeton is the cultural response to many things that have not been done in favor of large and growing social sectors; it is the result of a buildup of injustices and missteps, combined with the ease of access to resources to make oneself heard," said the prophetic Silvio Rodríguez in March 2019.

Far from acknowledging this warning, the regime chose censorship, as it always does. Five years after the singer-songwriter's alerts, Díaz-Canel aims to neutralize the potential "rebellion" of urban music, submitting it to the dictates of "the cultural policy of the Cuban Revolution."