Willy Chirino recently confessed publicly that he has a deep admiration for the work of the troubadour Silvio Rodríguez, despite the radical ideological differences that separate them.
The singer - a prominent figure of the Cuban exile community in Miami and a staunch critic of the regime in Havana - admitted in an interview with journalist Carlos Alejandro Sánchez Rodríguez that there are artists he admires, even though he does not share their political views.
Chirino recounted that days before the interview, he received a signed record from the singer-songwriter, which was sent to him through a close acquaintance who conveyed a message of admiration.
“He admires your work, even though he doesn’t naturally share your political stance. And he sent you a signed album,” the intermediary in question would have said while handing the album to Willy Chirino.
The author of the renowned Ya vienen llegando claims to have answered the following:
"Tell that man with whom I share none of his ideology, and whom I find a horror story, that a person with his talent and ability to write those wonderful metaphors could support such a horrible system that has devastated his country and his people." I can't believe they coexist in the same person.
The song by Silvio Rodríguez that makes Willy Chirino cry, but... with a condition
The most revealing moment of the interview came when Chirino spoke about Cita con ángeles, the title track of the album of the same name released by Silvio Rodríguez in 2003, whose lyrics evoke the tragic deaths of figures such as Federico García Lorca, John Lennon, Salvador Allende, Martin Luther King, and Che Guevara.
“But there is a song that... removing Che Guevara from that song makes me cry,” Chirino stated, making it clear that his emotional response to that piece has this unchangeable condition.
The singer was explicit with the message he wanted to send to the troubadour:
"Tell him that my recommendation is to sing it, but never include Che Guevara, because Che Guevara does not deserve to be in company with Martin Luther King, or John Lennon, or those great figures he included in that song, called Citas con Ángeles."
Art and horror in one person
Chirino did not hide the contradiction that his admiration for Silvio Rodríguez as a singer-songwriter generates in him, and he was direct in expressing his rejection of the troubadour's political stances.
However, despite that unambiguous condemnation of Silvio Rodríguez's support for the Cuban regime, Chirino was equally emphatic in acknowledging the artistic value of the author of Uniconio:
"I admire his work; I have to admire it because he is a person of extraordinary talent."
Joaquín Sabina, another uncomfortable hero
Chirino extended that same dichotomy between art and ideology to the Spanish singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina.
"Joaquín Sabina is one of my heroes," he said; however, he recalled with visible discomfort that in a book of lyrics by the Spanish artist, written by hand, Sabina included a photo of himself hugging Fidel Castro.
Chirino, who celebrated his 50 years in the music industry in February 2026 and received an honorary doctorate in music from FIU in April, remains one of the most active voices in the Cuban exile community, even as the debate over art, ideology, and political responsibility in the Cuban context remains unresolved.
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