Group urges U.S. to open cultural exchange with Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Group urges U.S. to open cultural exchange with Cuba
Sun May 11, 2008 6:34pm EDT
By Larry Blumenfeld

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Cuban pianist Chuchito Valdes would very much like for his famed jazz musician father to be allowed to perform again stateside.

So would more than 200 musicians, activists and government policymakers -- among them Robert Browning of the World Music Institute and Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich. -- who gathered in late April in Washington, D.C., for a two-day summit on changing U.S. policies on Cuba. The group convened at HR-57, a nonprofit arts organization named for a 1987 House resolution authored by Conyers that designated jazz "a rare and valuable American national treasure" worthy of federal support.

Since 2003, the Bush administration has prevented Cuban musicians from entering the United States through visa denials and has curtailed the ability of American musicians to travel there, via license restrictions. One of the most notable examples was the denial of a visa for veteran singer Ibrahim Ferrer to attend the Grammy Awards in 2004.

It also reversed the Clinton administration's policy of "people-to-people exchange," which in the late '90s started something of a renaissance for Cuban musicians and their work in the States. Among those who participated in the celebrated cross-cultural performances was Chuco Valdes, Chuchito's father. Now, while the younger Valdes, who lives in Mexico, can perform stateside, his father, who lives in Cuba, is forbidden from doing so.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN1151461220080511

[msongs]

1. We should restore full relations with Cuba, THAT would get rid of the Che Guevara gang for good nt

[pfitz59]

2. Let us in....

US trade and tourism would open eyes and opportunbity on both sides of the Florida Straits. Its obscene that the US continues to embargo trade with Cuba (90 miles away) yet promote free trade with China (a world away)!

[Thothmes]

3. I agree with restoring full relations with Cuba

whether it causes any change in the current political structure in Cuba remains to be seen.

[robcon]

4. Shouldn't Cuba allow their citizens to visit the U.S., too?

Cuba should remove export visa requirements on travel, and the U.S. should treat Cuba like any other country - no constraints on travel either way.