Rock 'n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution (or a Crime)

BY: CAPITOL HILL CUBANS



december 01, 2010


As legendary rock band AC/DC loudly and proudly proclaimed, "Rock N' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" -- and much less a crime.

Except in Castro's Cuba.

Over the weekend, the Cuban punk rock band, Porno Para Ricardo, were victims of a repressive crackdown by the Castro regime.

The band members were arrested, their equipment confiscated, their request for an exit permit to travel to a cultural event in the U.S. was denied and they were threatened with long prison terms.

Their "crime"? Organizing a local concert with songs critical of the Castro regime.

Ironically, this crackdown comes as the U.S. State Department intensifies its (now farcical) "cultural exchange" policy, which seemingly only grants visas to Cuban artists that praise the Castro regime in Miami, while artists critical of the Castro regime (like Porno Para Ricardo) aren't even permitted to exit the island.

Of course, U.S.-based artists that are critical of the Castro regime need not even apply to play in Cuba.

Since this "one-way cultural" policy -- obviously -- doesn't require any reciprocity by the Castro regime, we hope that -- at the very least -- the State Department and the international community will defend the human right of these Cuban artists to freely express themselves in their homeland.

As Gorki Aguila, the lead singer of Porno Para Ricardo, reportedly told one of his interrogators:

"Why are you so concerned about a little rock group that simply plays songs that you believe have no artistic value? Why are you so concerned about us? We're not armed insurgents. It's only rock n' roll."