The musician and composer Cándido Fabré opened a concert in Bayamo this Friday with shouts of "Long live Fidel!" to boost the closing activities for May Day in the province of Granma, in a concert commemorating the centenary of the Cuban dictator's birth.
The popular artist from Santiago performed in El Bosque area of the Granma capital after the official parade, in an event confirmed a day earlier by the First Secretary of the Communist Party in Granma, Yudelkis Ortiz Barceló, who stated on her Facebook profile that the concert "will go down in history."
Fabré kicked off his show with the rallying cry "Up with Fidel! Do you want a party? Bring it on!" before performing his song Ustedes quieren fiesta, which was sung along by the audience in Bayamo.
A video of the moment, published on Facebook by user Michel Carlos Santiesteban, captured the beginning of the performance with the musician at the forefront of the stage set up with a platform, metal structure, and professional sound equipment in El Bosque.
The concert was part of the regime's official motto for this year, "The Homeland is Defended," dedicated to the centenary of Castro, the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs, and the 22nd Congress of the Cuban Workers' Central.
It is not the first time that Fabré has lent his image to regime events in Granma. In March 2025, he participated in a revolutionary reaffirmation event in Río Cauto, in the same province.
In January, he publicly praised former leader Lázaro Expósito, stating that "with revolution and socialism, it is indeed possible to motivate a people and push them forward."
The musician has, however, expressed more ambiguous positions at other times. In March, he posted a message envisioning a bridge between Miami and Havana as a symbol of reconciliation among Cubans.
In December, he appealed to Fidel Castro's "concept of Revolution" to request the freedom of Juan Ramiro Arzuaga, a member of his orchestra who is imprisoned in Mayabeque.
The national event on May Day in Havana was also characterized by the political imprint of the regime. Raúl Castro presided over the event, and the ruling Miguel Díaz-Canel led the march, which this year was moved from the Plaza de la Revolución to the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune, in front of the United States Embassy, under the pretext of "austerity" and the "cruel energy blockade."
The event was not without episodes that sparked criticism. In Pinar del Río, a neonatal incubator was displayed in public during the parade, alongside a giant medical prescription with Fidel Castro as the "doctor" and Trump as the "patient."
And while the Cuban people survive on salaries of around 15 dollars a month, Díaz-Canel paraded in Adidas sneakers valued at over 1,000 dollars.
Attendance at the central event was significantly lower than in previous years, according to observers and critics, during a First of May marked by forced presence and the expressionless faces of the marchers.
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