Cuban writer César Pérez (Vueltas, Villa Clara, 1973) shared one of his poems, "What Does Canel Have?", on Facebook this January 4th. The poem parodies the hotel obsession of Raúl Castro's successor, who in 2024 invested fourteen times more in tourism than in Health and Social Assistance.
In the blink of an eye, the internet user known as Edmundo Dantés Jr. set the poem to music using Artificial Intelligence, and Liset Leonor Sánchez, a friend of the playwright, poured her heart into the production with images from the Internet. From there, a song was born that received much acclaim among the Cuban audience.
The poem "What Does Canel Have?" emerged after César Pérez, a Camagüey native by adoption, read a news article about the new Hotel K23, a 42-story building with five hundred rooms, located on K Street, between 23 and 25, in Vedado (Havana).
From that emerged a theme among the many that the poet shares on his Facebook wall for the delight of his friends, without any ambition, not even to accumulate 'likes'. César Pérez is like that, a juggler of words, who writes with infinite ease and for the sheer pleasure of it; possessing an extraordinary and inimitable memory and a dark sense of humor that contrasts with his blue eyes and jovial face.
Edmundo Dantés Jr himself explained on Facebook that the final fragment of César Pérez's poem, which mentions Sara González, was what inspired him to set to music what is on its way to becoming a new nightmare for the Machi-Díaz-Canel family.
The combination of music and visuals has pleased the poet. "I love that they have added music with its popular touch, and the images are stunning; they fit perfectly with the text and what Cuba will be like in 2025. What has impressed me the most is the speed with which it was done and how well it turned out. It's a perfect example of technology being used in the service of protest," he said to CiberCuba.
César Pérez studied Journalism in Havana during the Special Period. In addition to being a poet, he is a playwright, translator, and is finishing his first novel. He holds master’s degrees in Hispanic literatures from the universities of Iowa and Harvard, where he specialized in medieval literature. Since 2004, he has lived in Boston, Massachusetts. His first book, "La capital del sol," available on Amazon, was a success this Christmas in Madrid.
The poet has written for CiberCuba and has collaborated with the discussions held at this organization. From the United States, he has supported the San Isidro Movement and particularly its leaders Maykel Osorbo and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, both imprisoned in Cuba since July 11, 2021. He has been and remains deeply committed to the freedom of Cuba. He is also committed to literature. He is a lost link within Cuban culture. An erudite like few others, he feels an undeniable attraction to popular culture and speech. A testament to this is his poem "¿Qué tiene Canel?"
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