The Cuban singer Osmani García revealed that the regime prevented him from traveling to Cuba to say goodbye to his cousin Naibel, who died at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital in Havana after undergoing an emergency cesarean section without the necessary medical resources to care for her.
García shared the news in a live broadcast streamed from Facebook after visiting the home of musician Willy Chirino in Miami, where they are both working on a new collaborative song for the freedom of Cuba.
"I couldn't even go to bury my own cousin," said the artist. "She arrived at Ameijeiras, went to give birth, they didn't have the means to provide her with her plate, she had pneumonia, they performed a C-section, and well, she never woke up again, she never met her son."
The reggaeton artist stated that he has lost "more than 10 family members in the last two years, on both his mother's and father's side," and he noted that his situation is not exceptional: "like all of you," he said, addressing his Cuban followers in exile.
He explained that the family itself requested discretion to protect themselves from reprisals. "At the time, they said to me: 'Hey, we want to grieve in peace. Because in the end, if they imprison me, besides having killed the girl, being imprisoned is just outrageous. And we need to take care of the grandson,'" the Cuban family members asked after Naibel's death.
"I never like to make news with this, but the people who know me well understand how many family members I'm losing, and that all Cubans are losing as well," he emphasized.
García faces the restrictions imposed by the regime to return to his country. He recalled that since 2014 the cultural authorities of the regime have forbidden him from performing on the Island. He was only able to sing there once more, in 2015.
He also expressed his frustration at not being able to visit his parents freely, who remain in Cuba. "It’s very sad not to be able to see your parents whenever you want, not being able to go home whenever you want, not being able to sing at home whenever you want," he lamented.
The case is made public just two weeks after the regime prevented Baby Lores from entering Cuba while he was trying to travel urgently to see his mother, who was hospitalized in intensive care.
Both artists have publicly expressed their support for a military intervention in Cuba, a position that the regime punishes with immigration restrictions without a formal legal process.
The Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital, where García's cousin passed away, was for years one of the best-equipped facilities in the Cuban healthcare system, but it is now facing the same crisis as the others. Nationwide, only one third of the 603 medications in the basic Cuban formulary were available this month.
The live performance took place after his return from Willy Chirino's house, where the legendary musician is recording a collective anthem that also features El Chacal, Amaury Gutiérrez, and Emilio Frías. García had announced his involvement in Chirino's musical project the day before, describing the collaboration as "an honor to be part of something so special." According to the singer, the song is scheduled for November.
The artist reiterated his call for a military intervention in Cuba, a stance he has maintained on multiple occasions: last June, he addressed Donald Trump and Marco Rubio directly, and on September 30, he and his wife Laura attended the White House as special guests at the reception for Hispanic Heritage Month, organized by the president, an occasion that the performer took to publicly advocate for the freedom of Cuba.
In the video, he also mentioned receiving two more invitations to events with President Trump.
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