The musicians behind “Patria y vida” denounced that the unarmed civilian population is being repressed in the demonstrations in Cuba. Several requests for comment from the AP went unanswered. In addition, it used a campaign on social media including Twitter to promote the marches. The government has insisted that US sanctions added to its own deficiencies explicitly sought to suffocate the island economically to generate discontent. And the demonstrations spread to other cities, including Miami and Mexico City. The country is going through its worst economic crisis in decades and protesters are demanding political changes. People were protesting shortages, power outages and limited access to COVID-19 vaccines. Following the protests there were riots, hundreds of arrests, injuries and one civilian death (according to official figures.) And internet access was limited on the island. Last weekend, the song resounded as a cry of protest at the massive anti-government demonstrations, something that had not been seen in Cuba in decades. If someone saw them, they would be put in jail and we had to do it secretly,” Malcom said. The song was finished in Miami, while its video had to be filmed surreptitiously in Cuba due to the participation of the artists of San Isidro. The artists began working on it in Miami and sent it to Maykel Osorbo and El Funky, who are part of the San Isidro Movement that since 2018 has protested against the Cuban government. Romero, a member of the music group Orishas, raised the idea for the song. Romero’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the singer about the protests. “I want them to say ‘it’s over with us.’ The lies are over, the deception is over, the torture is over, the imprisonment is over, the prisons are over.” “We all believe this is a song to freedom, a song to life, a song to the love for our land,” he said then in a video posted on Instagram. Since its release in mid-February, it was clear to Yotuel Romero that they wanted to encourage people to speak out against authoritarianism. “But we didn’t know it would get so far and we are very proud, honestly, for being the driving force behind the Cuban people to take to the streets to denounce everything that this dictatorship does.” “We knew that ‘Patria y vida’ was going to be a song that was going to greatly influence the thinking of Cubans,” he added. We are very proud,” said Randy Malcom, from the duo Gente de Zona, in a phone interview from Miami. “This is historic, this had never happened and people shout ‘homeland and life!’ in every street. “Patria y vida” is performed by Yotuel Romero, Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo and El Funky, who change the Cuban revolutionary slogan “homeland or death” created by Fidel Castro to: “No more lies, my people ask for freedom, no more doctrines / Let us no longer shout‘ Homeland or death’ but ‘Homeland and life’”. It is a verse of a song that has become the anthem of these protests and that emerged from artists who for the first time dared to express their disagreement with the government. MEXICO CITY (AP) - The slogan “¡Patria y vida!” - “Homeland and life!” - is heard loudly during the demonstrations in Cuba.
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