The Cuban musician Descemer Bueno posted a video on his Facebook account in which he appears alongside fellow countrymen performing on the streets of Málaga, Spain, and makes a public appeal to support them: "Here I am with some Cubans playing on the streets of Málaga, making a living with dignity, please support them if you see them."
In the one minute and 31 second recording, a Cuban musician is seen playing acoustic guitar with the case open on the ground—coins and bills visible—while Bueno, dressed in black with a gray cap and sunglasses, interacts with him on a sidewalk next to a building in the typical ochre color of southern Spain.
The scene portrays a widespread reality among Cuban artists who have emigrated to Spain in recent years: lacking access to formal circuits, many resort to performing on the street as their only means of livelihood.
Málaga, a tourist city with a high influx of visitors, is one of the destinations where this practice is most visible among the Cuban diaspora, which, according to preliminary data from the National Institute of Statistics of Spain, is around 500,000 people across the country.
Bueno, a composer, double bassist, and producer based in Spain, is one of the most recognized figures of the Cuban artistic diaspora critical of the regime in Havana.
In 2021, he was a co-author of "Patria y Vida", a protest song that became the anthem of the Cuban opposition and won two Latin Grammys that year: Best Song of the Year and Best Urban Song.
Upon receiving the award, Bueno dedicated it with words that encapsulated his commitment: "For my country, for freedom of expression, for the freedom of Cubans."
The Cuban official press labeled the artists of "Patria y Vida" as "poor in spirit," while one of its co-authors, Maykel Osorbo, was imprisoned in May 2021 for his activism and was unable to attend the Grammy ceremony.
Bueno's gesture of highlighting these street musicians and requesting support for them is directly connected to his longstanding commitment to defending Cuban dignity in exile.
The emigration of artists and musicians from the Island accelerated after the protests of July 11, 2021 and the worsening of the economic crisis caused by 67 years of communist dictatorship, which has drained the country of talent and forced entire generations to seek their fortunes abroad.
Bueno maintains an active schedule in Spain: in July 2023, he recorded in Madrid with Gente de Zona the song "Después que Bailamos", and he continues to be a prominent voice for the Cuban community abroad.
Your post on social media, a simple and direct call to acknowledge the work of those who earn their living with an instrument in hand, encapsulates in few words what thousands of Cubans experience each day far from their country: the search for dignity when the regime left them no other option.
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