Jenny Sotolongo, the Cuban singer who was showcased by the regime as a symbol of its propaganda during her childhood, has released a new song dedicated to the freedom of Cuba, in which she directly addresses the liberty of her homeland and reflects on her own story.
"The voice they lent me" marks a symbolic and personal break from the stage of his childhood when the propaganda apparatus of Castros used his voice and image before crowds.
The artist is 37 years old today, lives in Houston, Texas, and is pursuing an independent music career in the United States.
She was known for years as "the girl from the stands" due to her involvement in the events for the return of Elián González in 1999 and 2000. Fidel Castro recognized her talent and incorporated her into his ideological machinery.
She herself acknowledges it without beating around the bush: "I was a little girl, living a reality that for me was completely normal because it was the only one I knew," she stated to Telemundo 51.
Today, she views that stage from a distance and with compassion, not with resentment. "I don't like to judge the girl I was; I see her with compassion because she was growing up in a very particular context," she added.
"The voice they lent me" is not just a musical piece. It is a statement. The voice that the regime presented as a symbol of political loyalty is now on the opposite side, joining the call for freedom for Cuba.
Jenny uses art as a vehicle for protesting against the Cuban dictatorship. What distinguishes her from other artists is the depth of her personal story. The regime turned many childhoods into megaphones, and she was one of the most visible.
That is why her song compels us to examine that mechanism carefully: not as a judgment against the young girl she once was, but as a perspective on the system that surrounded and exploited her.
"I believe that we all dream of a Cuba where people can express themselves without fear, where there are more opportunities, more respect, and more spaces to think differently while still being Cuban," the artist stated as she concluded her message.
In October 2023, Sotolongo publicly announced that she would write a song about the Cuban crisis, motivated by the requests of her followers. At that time she stated, "I am deeply shaken by the misery that we Cubans have lived through for so many years and that is still ongoing." She also noted that she had received backlash for being identified as the girl from the stands, although she clarified that she was not the only one.
On July 1, 2025, she released a sung version of the National Anthem of Cuba that generated a wide emotional response among Cubans both on the island and abroad.
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