Misrepresenting Cuba's Punk Rock Trial

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Socially Dangerous: Misrepresenting Cuba’s Punk Rock Trial

By Michelle Chase

n a u g u s t t h e c u b a n authorities b r i e f l y exaggerating, for example, the importance and detained a musician, Gorki Águila, 40, and reach of dissidents on the island, or portray- charged him with “social dangerousness,” ing the relationship of youths to socialism as I 2 a crime punishable with up to four years’ im- purely antagonistic. More broadly, they reveal prisonment. Gorki, as he is widely known, is the mass media’s consistent prioritization of the lead singer and figurehead of Porno Para freedom over justice in Latin America. Ricardo, a punk rock band that has, since its For the media, the Gorki incident represented formation in 1998, made increasingly direct one more episode of political repression on the and vulgar pronouncements against the Cuban island, and more particularly a test case by leadership. (The band’s lyrics radicalized con- which new president Raúl Castro delineated the siderably after Gorki’s first imprisonment in limits of permissible critique under his watch.3 2003 after a conviction on drug charges.1) The As The Miami Herald wrote, “Aguila’s arrest band’s logo features the hammer and sickle, sends a clear signal that while Raul Castro is with the hammer in the form of a phallus, and open to public debate, he will set boundaries.” their song lyrics lambaste the leadership as in- The St. Petersburg Times concurred, remarking ept, decrepit, and repressive. Arrested presum- that Gorki’s detention “raised questions about ably for his critical lyrics, Gorki was ultimately the limits on freedoms in Cuba under the new convicted of “public disorder” (for the band’s government of Raul Castro, despite greater in- noisy rehearsals) and released with a fine. ternal debate and economic reforms.”4 The incident briefly captivated the -main The dominance of free speech and politi- stream U.S. media, perhaps because it seemed cal dissidence in mainstream media coverage of Michelle Chase is a to reinforce several well-established themes in the island has several troubling repercussions. doctoral candidate in its coverage of Cuba: an imminent youth rebel- First, foreign journalists’ frequent reliance on the history depart- lion, an imagined future “transition to democ- a very small group of internal dissidents for ment of New York University. She is racy,” and the Cuban government’s suppression quotes gives these dissidents disproportionate writing a disserta- of free speech. These themes are not, of course, weight as sources of information and interna- tion on the gender irrelevant, but their consistent emphasis to the tional opinion-makers. For example, Elizardo politics of the Cuban exclusion of other topics can create mislead- Sánchez, head of an unauthorized human rights Revolution. ing impressions about contemporary Cuba— group, and Yoani Sánchez, author of the blog 50 MARCH/APRIL 2009 mala

Generación Y, are quoted repeat- examples of negotiation as simple ics and iconography raise precisely edly in coverage of the Gorki case “co-optation” of musicians, is to the issues—pornography, obscenity, and elsewhere. Similarly, the ample deeply misconstrue the complex re- sedition—that have also defined the coverage of opposition groups like lations between artists and the state limits of free speech in the United Damas de Blanco, which is virtually in socialist Cuba.7 States. Such comments merely con- unknown to most Cubans, gives an Finally, in its most dogmatic it- tribute to the flattened portrait of overdrawn sense of their local impor- eration, the focus on free speech in Cuba that often emerges in U.S. tance.5 Such coverage is, implicitly, Cuba permits a heavy-handed con- journalism, without illuminating more about U.S. foreign policy than trast with the freedoms enjoyed in the complexities of political critique Cuba’s internal politics; it necessarily the United States. For example, one on the island. contains a subtext asking which of editorialist for The Tampa Tribune In practice, a spectrum exists these dissident groups will lead Cuba urged readers to consider Gorki’s within Cuba, ranging from accept- in a “transition to democracy.” case “for a better appreciation of able to unacceptable statements, Second, the media focus on the American freedoms,” asserting the judged both in terms of their content harassment and detention of dissi- dubious claim that “even Americans and the context of their expression. dents also lends itself to an exagger- who disagree on the issues would For example, Porno Para Ricardo’s ated, sensationalistic assessment of fight to the death for their- oppo aggressive, irreverent denunciation how prevalent the use of force is in nent’s right to say what he thinks.”8 of the leadership contrasts with Cuba. For example, one Wall Street In the particular context of Gorki’s the more ambiguous criticism, ex- Journal columnist wrote that “the trial, such statements are ironic, pressed somberly and often through regime has long counted on fear as given that Porno Para Ricardo’s lyr- metaphor, tolerated in many nueva the principal tool to keep the pro- letariat in line.”6 Yet force is not the Cuban government’s preferred form of curbing critical lyrics. It more often employs subtler, less direct ways of restricting a particularly critical musician’s accessibility, by not al- lowing the artist to record on state- run music labels, for example, or by refraining from promoting the artist on local radio or television stations. (The limited internal diffusion of nueva trova artist Pedro Luis Ferrer is an example.) Such restrictions are usually combined with various forms of en- couragement for musicians who are either less critical, or whose criticism is less direct. For example, the government has promoted a series of rap and alternative rock concerts through a venue known as La Mad- riguera, run by its youth arts orga- nization, Asociación Hermanos Saíz. In 2007 it founded the Cuban Rock Agency, and it plans to open a re- vamped movie theater as a venue for alternative rock music. To focus merely on repression, or to dismiss 51 NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS mala

trova songs, or the funny, streetwise has never accepted funds from abroad, commentaries on daily life found the possibility of such a relationship in many timba lyrics. Furthermore, is latent, as suggested by the Cuban there are differences between what American National Foundation’s im- can be expressed in a durable format mediate offer to provide legal assis- like recordings or printed interviews, tance to Gorki. This is why a relatively versus the more ephemeral platform unknown local garage band raises the of a live performance. Finally, more hackles of the Cuban government: established artists with wide recog- the inevitable possibility it presents of nition have much greater leeway in an articulation with the U.S.-backed their public pronouncements. For Miami hardliners. In any case, the example, both Silvio Rodríguez and dropping of the social-dangerousness Pablo Milanés, luminaries of nueva charge was generally interpreted in the trova, criticized aspects of Cuban media as a victory for Cubans in exile, government policy, including restric- particularly young intellectuals and tions on foreign travel and limita- artists residing in Spain, who widely tions on the press, when interviewed mobilized for Gorki’s release. (The during their respective European charge—described by one journalist tours last summer; they also care- as “Orwellian”—is not the child of the fully reiterated their support for the 1959 revolution, as some commenta- revolution. For this reason, Gorki tors have implied. It was first outlined supporters petitioned Milanés to de- in the Social Defense Code of 1936 nounce Gorki’s imprisonment during and retained in post-1959 criminal an outdoor concert in Cuba held just law, albeit after internal debate.)10 after Gorki’s arrest (Milanés did not There is, in fact, a certain irony to respond).9 Gorki’s brief celebration as an anti- Certainly many Cubans would like regime figure among Miami exiles, to broaden the spectrum of acceptable and one suspects he veers too much public expression, but it is important toward anarcho-libertarianism for an for U.S. readers to understand that easy embrace across the straits. As he Porno Para Ricardo’s lyrics are gener- has stated in an interview, “Capitalism ally considered quite deviant in the is very problematic, as are Commu- Cuban context. Moreover, the band’s nism and socialism. . . . [F]or me, de- oppositional stance is complicated by fending my anti-Castro ideas doesn’t the fact that Gorki’s pronouncements mean an implicit defense of capital- dovetail—at least in some aspects— ism.”11 Porno Para Ricardo clamor with the rhetoric of the Miami right. for the personal, individual liberties: For example, in interviews with the The band’s name refers to the restric- foreign media, Gorki has suggested tion of pornography on the island, that the Cuban government has pur- and Gorki sometimes wears a bright posefully caused food shortages and orange T-shirt that reads, “Pornogra- described the leadership as moti- phy: A People’s Right.” Perhaps even vated by a desire to “humiliate” the more revealingly, Gorki appears in people. Such statements are rarely another video wearing a T-shirt that heard on the island, despite the pro- simply reads, “No!” That one-word liferation of other types of complaints manifesto, encapsulating the refusal and allegations, yet they are daily fare to participate and the rejection of au- in Miami. thority, might be considered subver- Although the band has no formal sive anywhere. But it is particularly political affiliation and states that it disquieting under socialism. 52 MARCH/APRIL 2009 report: revolution

completas, ed. Jorge Quintana, vol. 1 (Caracas, 1964), 411; Martí, “Manifiesto gua: Talleres de Grafitex, 2006). See also Nuñez, “La Agonía política de de Montecristi: El Partido Revolucionario Cubano a Cuba,” March 25, 1895, la oligarquia,” El 19 no. 14, November 27–December 3, 2008, available in ibid., 243; Martí, “El Delegado en Nueva York,” November 1, 1892, in ibid., at sepres.gob.ni. 342–643. 9. Human Rights Watch, “Nicaragua: Protect Rights Advocates from Harassment 2. Dwight D. Eisenhower to Harold Macmillan, July 11, 1960, in John P. Glen- and Intimidation,” October 28, 2008, available at hrw.org. non and Ronald D. Landa, eds., Foreign Relations of the United States: Cuba, 10. Baltodano, “El ‘nuevo sandinismo’ es de la izquierda?” 1958–1960, vol. 6 (Bureau of Public Affairs, Office of the Historian, Depart- 11. CBC News, “Latin American Artists Protest Persecution of Nicaraguan Poet,” ment of State, Washington, D.C., 1991), 1003. September 6, 2008, available at cbc.ca. 3. Lester D. Mallory to R. Roy Rubottom Jr., April 6, 1960, in ibid., 885. 12. “How to Steal an Election,” The Economist, November 13, 2008. 4. Marc Lacey, “In Rare Study, Cubans Put Money Worries First,” The New York Times, June 5, 2008. Reading the Black Jacobins, Seven Decades Later 5. Martí to Federico Henríquez y Carvajal, March 25, 1895, in Martí, Obras 1. C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo completas, 248. Revolution (Vintage, 1963), 47. 6. Martí, “Con todos y para el bien de todos,” November 26, 1891, in ibid., 2. Ibid., 25. For more on Raynal and Toussaint-Louverture in the context of the 697–706. Haitian Revolution, see Laurent Dubois, Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2004). The Revolutionary Imagination in Cuba and Venezuela 3. Louis Sala-Molins, Les misères des lumières: sous la raison, l’outrage (Paris: 1. Alfredo González Gutiérrez, “Economía y sociedad: los retos del modelo Robert Laffo��nt, 1992), 158–60. ��I discuss Sala-Molins and the broader ques- económico,” Temas 11 (1997): 4–29. tion of the Enlightenment in the Caribbean in “An Enslaved Enlightenment: 2. Roberto Zurbano, “¡El Rap cubano!: discursos hambrientos de realidad (siete Re-Thinking the Intellectual History of the French Atlantic,” Social History 31, notas de viaje sobre el hip-hop cubano en los diez años del festival de rap de no. 1 (February 2006): 1–14. La Habana),” Boletín de música cubana alternativa 1 (2004). 4. Srinivas Aravamudan, Tropicopolitans: Colonialism and Agency, 1688–1804 (Duke University Press, 1999), 23, 299. Bull Horns and Dynamite 5. James, The Black Jacobins, 197–98. 1. Dunia Mokrani, “Pensar la política en Bolivia desde Huanuni,” Pensamiento 6. David Scott, Conscripts of Modernity: The Tragedy of Colonial Enlightenment de los confines 19 (2006). (Duke University Press, 2004). 2. Forrest Hylton and Sinclair Thomson, Revolutionary Horizons: Past and Present 7. James, The Black Jacobins, 356–57. in Bolivian Politics (Verso, 2007). 8. Ibid., 361. 3. See Merilee Grindle and Pilar Gamarra, eds., Proclaiming Revolution: Bolivia 9. Ibid., 377. in Comparative Perspective (Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, 10. Ibid., 155. Harvard University, and Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London, 2002). MALA: Socially Dangerous 4. Laura Gotkowitz, A Revolution for Our Rights: Indigenous Struggles for Land 1. Frances Robles, “Cuba to Try Anti-Castro Punk Rocker Gorki Aguila,” The Mi- and Justice in Bolivia, 1880–1952 (Duke University Press, 2007). ami Herald, August 30, 2008. 5. For the post-revolutionary period, see James Dunkerley, Rebellion in the Veins: 2. Ana Menendez, “Change Is Already in the Hands of Youth,” The Miami Herald, Political Struggle in Bolivia, 1952–1982 (Verso, 1984). March 2, 2008. See also Michelle Chase, “Cuba’s Generation Gap,” NACLA 6. Sergio Almaraz Paz, Requiem para una república (La Paz: Amigos del Libro, Report on the Americas, November/December 2008. 1969), 16–17. 3. David Adams, “Cuban Rocker’s Case Seen as Test of Free Speech,” St. Pe- 7. René Zavaleta Mercado, Lo nacional-popular en Bolivia (Mexico City: Siglo tersburg Times, August 30, 2008; Marc Lacey, “From the Cuban Underground, XXI, 1986), 149. a Punk Rocker’s Protest Reverberates,” The New York Times, September 6, 8. Luis Gómez, El Alto de pie: una insurrección aymara en Bolivia (La Paz: Textos 2008. Rebeldes, 2004). 4. Robles, “Cuba to Try Anti-Castro Punk Rocker Gorki Aguila”; Adams, “Cuban 9. Adolfo Gilly, prologue to Hylton and Thomson, Revolutionary Horizons, xix. Rocker’s Case Seen as Test of Free Speech.” 10. On the long-term political culture of insurrection in the southern Andes, see 5. Cuba’s small opposition groups remain a seductive subject for foreign journal- the introduction by Hylton and Thomson to Forrest Hylton, Felix Patzi, Sergio ists, even for those who make it clear that these groups lack big followings. Serulnikov, and Sinclair Thomson, Ya es otro tiempo el presente: cuatro mo- See, for example, Patrick Symmes, “The Battle of Ideas: Searching for the mentos de insurgencia indígena (La Paz: Muela del Diablo, 2003). Opposition in Post-Fidel Cuba,” Harper’s Magazine, May 2008. 6. Mary Anastasia O’Grady, “The Meaning of Raul’s ‘Reforms,’ ” The Wall Street Et Tu, Daniel? Journal, August 21, 2008. 1. Mónica Baltodano, “El ‘nuevo sandinismo’ es de la izquierda? Democracia 7. On the complex relationship between musicians and the state, see Sujatha pactada en Nicaragua,” Le Monde diplomatique, Southern Cone edition (De- Fernandes, Cuba Represent! Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New cember 2008): 16–17. Revolutionary Cultures (Duke University Press, 2006) and Robin Moore, Mu- 2. Ibid. sic and Revolution: Cultural Change in Socialist Cuba (University of California 3. The concept of revolución compartida is developed in Sergio Ramírez, Adios Press, 2006). muchachos: Una memoría de la revolución sandinista (Mexico City: Aguilar, 8. “Cuban Punk Rocker’s Bum Rap,” September 5, 2008. 1999). 9. See Diego M. Vidal, “ ‘Creo que nuestras deficiencias noticiosas debieran ser 4. Rosa Marina Zelaya, “International Election Observers: Nicaragua Under a parte de las mejoras inmediatas’: entrevista al cantautor Silvio Rodríguez,” Microscope,” Envío 103 (February 1990), envio.org.ni/articulo/2582. penultimosdias.com, August 13, 2008. 5. BBC, “1984: Sandinistas Claim Election Victory,” available at news.bbc.co.uk/ 10. See Debra Evenson, Revolution in the Balance: Law and Society in Contem- onthisday. porary Cuba (Westview Press, 1994), 156-–58. For the reference to the law 6. Harry E. Vanden and Gary Prevost, Democracy and Socialism in Sandinista as “Orwellian,” see David Gonzalez, “A Cuban Rocker Faces Trial for ‘Social Nicaragua (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1996), 84–85. Dangerousness,’ ” posted on the New York Times City Room blog, August 7. Roger Burbach and Orlando Nuñez, Fire in the Americas, Forging a Revolution- 29, 2008. ary Agenda (Verso, 1987). 11. Jorge Ricardo, “Entrevista: Gorki Luis Águila: detiene Cuba a punk crítico del 8. Nuñez develops this argument in his book La Oligarquia en Nicaragua (Mana- régimen,” Reforma (Mexico City), August 27, 2008. 43