A playful segment of an interview given by Miguel Díaz-Canel to Brazilian journalist Breno Altman for the "20 Minutos" program of Opera Mundi turned into an unintentional test of the cultural contradictions of the Cuban regime.
The president had to comment, one by one, on musicians whom his own government has banned, persecuted, or attempted to block from entering the country.
The segment forced Díaz-Canel to choose from pairs of Cuban artists until he crowned his favorite. The journey included Celia Cruz, Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Bebo Valdés, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, all figures censored or exiled by the regime.
The final result was Silvio Rodríguez, whom Díaz-Canel described as his favorite. When asked whether that choice was political or musical, he replied, "It’s both things."
The leader described Silvio as part of "one of the most genuine cultural expressions of the Cuban revolution" and praised him for being "consistent and coherent as a Cuban and as a patriot."
The revealing aspect of the exercise is what happened before reaching Silvio Rodríguez. Díaz-Canel chose Benny Moré over Celia Cruz, thus avoiding having to directly address the "Queen of Salsa" in subsequent rounds, even though her name had already come up in the tournament.
Celia Cruz was banned by Fidel Castro since 1960 after refusing to return to Cuba following a tour. Her music was prohibited in state media for more than six decades. In October 2025, the regime canceled an official tribute for her centenary without explanation, which sparked a wave of criticism even within the island.
Paquito D'Rivera, who defected in 1980 and won 14 Grammys in exile, also participated in the tournament. On the same day as Díaz-Canel's interview, D'Rivera strongly criticized Silvio Rodríguez for supporting the regime and failing to denounce political prisoners. On April 15, D'Rivera had demanded an "absolute change of power in Cuba," stating that the same people who destroyed Cuba will not rebuild it.
Arturo Sandoval, who defected in July 1990 during a tour in Europe and obtained U.S. citizenship in 1999, has stated that freedom is not known in Cuba and that his inability to return causes him "a wound that never heals." Cuban intelligence documents reveal that the spy Gerardo Hernández Nordelo proposed to record anti-Castro statements from exiled artists like Sandoval so that they would never again be able to set foot on the island.
Bebo Valdés went into exile in the sixties due to ideological disagreements with the regime. Gonzalo Rubalcaba also emigrated and built his career outside of Cuba.
When confronted with Juan Formell at the tournament, Díaz-Canel exclaimed: "You are a killer when it comes to questioning… both of you. But one has to advance… Omara, who is a lady, and also capable of magnificently singing Formell's works."
In the same interview, Díaz-Canel mentioned that days earlier he had shared an informal evening with Silvio Rodríguez and Brazilian musician Chico Buarque, who visited Cuba to record the song "Dreams with Serpent." According to the president, that song "speaks of the struggle of the essentials, of those who never tire of fighting their whole life."
The choice of Silvio Rodríguez as a favorite, with the explicit statement that it is both a political and musical preference, highlights the ideological dimension of an exercise that, nonetheless, forced the president to implicitly acknowledge the artistic value of those whom his regime has been silencing for decades.
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