gUSAnos & Bush afraid of 22 artists! LOL!!!
Richard Leiva
HAVANA - Cuba charged that the U.S. government has not granted visas to 22 Cuban artists nominated for Latin Grammy awards which will be presented Wednesday evening in Los Angeles.
Vice Culture Minister Abel Acosta said the
delegation had planned to travel to Los Angeles last Friday but as of Tuesday
night still hadn't received word about visas, effectively preventing the group
from attending the awards ceremony.
The musicians included jazz pianist Chucho Valdes, members of the group
Sintesis, guitarist Rey Guerra and rapper X Alfonso.
Officials at the U.S. Interests Section, the American mission here, could not
be immediately reached for comment after hours on Tuesday. The State Department
in Washington declined to comment. And telephone calls to the Latin Recording
Academy, which puts on the awards ceremony, were not immediately returned on
Tuesday evening.
Acosta told reporters about the artists' inability to obtain visas during a
small ceremony held to deliver the small golden gramophones awarded to Cuban
artists last year, when the gala ceremony was canceled after the Sept. 11, 2001
terrorist attacks on the United States.
The awards Cuban artists won last year arrived here from Los Angeles last
week and went to producers Cary Diez and Joaquin Betancourt for the recording
"La Rumba soy yo," of Bis-Music. The Latin Grammys honor a range of Latin music
styles, such as flamenco and ranchera.
Acosta charged that the visa issue was aimed at "limiting the cultural
exchange" between Americans and Cubans.
While the American government has denied U.S. visas to prominent Cubans in
the past, those denials have been reserved mostly for senior officials in Fidel
Castro's government. Cultural figures usually obtain U.S. visas without
problems.
But in recent months, such visas have been increasingly denied to other
high-profile Cubans who do not hold senior government jobs. Link: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020918/ap_wo_en_po/cuba_latin_grammys_2
Sergio Calderon
wrote:
>Cuba: U.S. government has not granted visas to Cuban artists nominated for
Latin Grammys
GREAT!!!
Sergio
AT
"Sergio Calderon" <sergioc...@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:khrgou8o0fqcidfd5...@4ax.com...
l.Oyarzun
musicos Cubanos, no son los mismos que se auto-proclaman "defensores
de las libertades, llamense de expresion o movimiento"?
Que buenos son para aplicar la Ley del Embudo, siempre que lo ancho
sea para ellos....Hipocritas!!!!
loyarzun
Sergio Calderon <sergioc...@adelphia.net> wrote in message news:<khrgou8o0fqcidfd5...@4ax.com>...
Sergio Calderon
>Estos tipejos que se alegran porque no le dieron visa a un grupo de
>musicos Cubanos, no son los mismos que se auto-proclaman "defensores
>de las libertades, llamense de expresion o movimiento"?
>Que buenos son para aplicar la Ley del Embudo, siempre que lo ancho
>sea para ellos....Hipocritas!!!!
>
>loyarzun
Mira, comemierda.... Cuando los cubanos tengan la libertad de salir del pais
cuando les da la gana (y no solo 22 privilegiados del regimen), y no cuando el
regimen de Castro se los PERMITA, entonce hablaremos de "libertades" o de
"expresion de sentimientos o de movimientos". Mientras tanto, sigue demostrando
tu hipocresia, defendiendo los "derechos" de un grupo de representantes de un
regimen totalitario a venir a tierras de libertad, mientras que otros se la
tienen que "jugar" en el Estrecho de la Florida.
Sergio
PL
Official: Artists Not Denied Visas
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA- Cuban Latin Grammy nominees who planned to attend Wednesday night's
awards ceremony in Los Angeles didn't get their visas in time because of new
U.S. security rules, American officials said.
Cuban officials had complained on Tuesday that 22 artists nominated for this
year's awards never received U.S. entry visas that would have allowed them
to travel to Los Angeles.
But a U.S. official based in Havana, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said Wednesday that the American government had not denied visas to the
Cubans.
Rather, he said, those requests were still being processed this week under
new tougher procedures adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The official said a new U.S. national security law that took effect on Aug.
1 requires more rigorous procedures, including interviews, for visa
applicants from countries listed on the U.S. State Department's terrorism
watch list, which includes Cuba.
Thus, he said, a process that once took two to four weeks now takes six to
eight weeks - not enough time for Cuba's Latin Grammy nominees to get their
visas.
Although it was unclear when the Cuban nominees applied for their visas, it
evidently was after the new procedures took effect on Aug. 1.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-sa/2002/sep/18/091807145.html
Law Keeps 22 From Latin Grammys
By David Segal
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 19, 2002; Page C01
Nearly two dozen Cuban musicians -- including one winner -- were forced to
miss the Latin Grammy ceremonies in Hollywood last night because a new law
targeting terrorists kept them from securing visas in time for the show.
The performers don't exactly fit the typical threat profile. Among the 22
musicians blocked from the event was Chucho Valdes, one of Cuba's best-known
jazz pianists, who won the award for Pop Instrumental Album. Also shut out
were guitarist Rey Guerra, nominated for Pop Instrumental Album, and an
up-and-coming rapper named X Alfonso, nominated for Best Rap/Hip-Hop album.
An official at the State Department said that the Cuban performers were not
denied visas but rather were required by a law, enacted in May, to clear a
lengthy screening process that had not yet been completed.
That law, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act, was a
response to the attacks of Sept. 11 and gives agencies like the FBI and CIA
the chance to review visa applications from countries on the U.S. list of
nations that sponsor terrorism. Cuba is on that list, and U.S. authorities
aren't in the mood to make exceptions -- even for people who want to rumba.
"We're bound to carry out the law as it is written," said Kelly Shannon, a
spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. "In terms
of security, that's our number one priority."
A representative of Cuba's Union of Writers and Artists said that the
performers in his country were deeply disappointed, and he described the
decision to include Cuba on a list of terrorist-sponsoring nations as absurd
and politically motivated.
"It's ridiculous," said Jorge Gonzalez in a phone interview from Havana.
"And it's forbidding the American people from the chance to see and enjoy
the beauties of Cuban art. These artists were nominated because of the
quality of their records and now they can't even attend the celebration."
Gonzalez said that he and others in the Cuban arts community learned in
August that they should now expect visa applications to take about eight
weeks, or longer. Artists were notified of their nominations on July 24,
exactly eight weeks before last night's show. Gonzalez said that some
musicians yesterday morning were still hoping to collect their visas and hop
on a plane.
This is the third year of the Latin Grammys, which were launched by the
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to respond to the growing
audience for Latin music. It's also the awards' third straight year of
controversy. The first year the ceremony was supposed to have been held in
Miami but a county ban prevented Cubans from performing, so the show was
moved to Los Angeles. Last year the ban had been overturned and the awards
were slated again for Miami, then a dispute over where those protesting
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro could demonstrate forced the festivities back to
L.A. But the whole show was canceled in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36964-2002Sep18?language=printer
"Richard Leiva" <kang...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:3d886a22$0$22174$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
l.Oyarzun
piensan como tu con insultos? Pelea tu guerra en la patria que te
vio nacer imbecil y no sentado en tu comoda silla......Los que antes
fueron tus compatriotas se rien de los "keyboard commands de Miami"!!
loyarzun
ergio Calderon <sergioc...@adelphia.net> wrote in message news:<vvekoukkoa9gclbvu...@4ax.com>...
Sergio Calderon
>Esa es la educacion que recibiste en US? Quieres callar a los que no
>piensan como tu con insultos? Pelea tu guerra en la patria que te
>vio nacer imbecil y no sentado en tu comoda silla......Los que antes
>fueron tus compatriotas se rien de los "keyboard commands de Miami"!!
>
>
>loyarzun
Y antes escribio este tipo,
>> On 19 Sep 2002 09:56:12 -0700, lgoy...@webtv.net (l.Oyarzun) wrote:
>>
>> >Estos tipejos que se alegran porque no le dieron visa a un grupo de
>> >musicos Cubanos, no son los mismos que se auto-proclaman "defensores
>> >de las libertades, llamense de expresion o movimiento"?
>> >Que buenos son para aplicar la Ley del Embudo, siempre que lo ancho
>> >sea para ellos....Hipocritas!!!!
Y yo le conteste,
>> Mira, comemierda.... Cuando los cubanos tengan la libertad de salir del pais
>> cuando les da la gana (y no solo 22 privilegiados del regimen), y no cuando
>>el regimen de Castro se los PERMITA, entonce hablaremos de "libertades" o de
>> "expresion de sentimientos o de movimientos". Mientras tanto, sigue
>>demostrando tu hipocresia, defendiendo los "derechos" de un grupo de
>>representantes de un regimen totalitario a venir a tierras de libertad,
>>mientras que otros se la tienen que "jugar" en el Estrecho de la Florida.
Me parece que cuando te refieres a los que no estan de acuerdo con tus
posiciones como "tipejos", reflejas una gran educacion que recibiste quien sabe
en donde....
Es tan absurdo protestar porque el gobierno de los EEUU no les permitio a 22
representantes de una de las peores tiranias en la Tierra visitar a este pais,
cuando ese regimen de Castro le niega a 12 MILLONES de ciudadanos el derecho de
viajar a donde les de la gana cuando les de la gana.
Cuando puedas responder a esa pregunta, te prestare atencion.
Sergio
Spartacus
--
"Be not afraid of any man, no matter what his size,
When danger threatens call on me, and I will equalize."
--19th century Ad for Colt revolvers
"l.Oyarzun" <lgoy...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:42a6b542.02091...@posting.google.com...