MIAMI.- The ability to elect a president democratically and the long-awaited freedom of expression are the dreams of every Cuban, wherever their exile may have taken them.
In Miami, many have learned to coexist with that latent dream of seeing Cuba free and every May 20th that feeling of helplessness dressed in hope surfaces in those who suffer the Cuban reality from a distance.
On the occasion of the commemoration of that date that in 1902 went down in history as Cuba’s independence day and has been marred by more than half a century of dictatorship, the singers Malena and Lena Burkewho have settled in the Capital of the Sun for years, express their desires for the island where they were born.
“That a president could be elected, that we could live in freedom, that we could have freedom of expression, that people could express themselves as they wanted, in a democracy as it should be. And that there was respect for religion, for the female gender. That there were not so many femicides. That there were laws like here so that society could function as it should. And that there was no tyranny,” Lena Burke told DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS in response to the question of what the bases would be that should exist for Cuba to return to what it was for 57 years, before Castroism was installed in the country.
To which her mother, Malena, added:
“To begin with, there would have to be another government, free elections, in order to achieve all of that. We would have to build a new Cuba, but quickly because it is falling apart.”
An issue that concerns Lena is the escalation of cases of gender violence against women that has resulted in femicides. That is why she wanted to be part of a campaign to raise awareness about this. And she did so by joining her voice with that of Pavel Urquiza in a song that talks about this social phenomenon.
“Due to the femicides that occurred in Cuba and which the government does not talk about, Pavel Urquiza wrote the song And now that? and invited me to collaborate. So this campaign was launched to give voice to this abuse that exists and that is not talked about there, it is as if it had never happened.”
The song can be heard on digital platforms.
According to various media reports, as of March 2024, 14 femicides had been recorded on the island this year. The complaint was made by the activist groups Alas Tensas and Sí Te Creo, who advocate for a law against gender violence and ask the government to declare a state of emergency in response to this reality.
In addition to raising her voice for a social cause, Lena, at the time of granting this interview, was preparing to return to the stage alongside Venezuelan Rafael ‘Pollo’ Brito, with the narration of César Miguel Rondón, in the play In life there are loves.
Malena, for her part, performs on the last Saturday of every month at the Real Café, a place that takes her back to the time when she sang every night in the cabarets of Havana.
“Going back to my longing for my Cuba, it is a little place where what I would call a Cuban “cargana” takes place, but I do it my way, with my band, and I always prepare a tribute to some composer. This month, which would be his birthday, I am going to pay tribute to the Mexican composer Vicente Garrido.
And although he now has a different work rhythm, he cannot miss the time in the recording studio. Soon he will release an album about which he did not offer more details, but he did reveal that it is a material that he recorded with the help of Meme Solís and that he will release in two volumes.
“I worked at Tropicana, at the Capri, the Riviera, at the Habana Libre, we did double cabaret, we alternated. We had to do theater, radio and television. We had to work a lot in the 80s, which was when I worked the most…But now I take life more calmly. I just recorded an album and everything is calm. I can tell you that it is called Malena sings to Meme Solís”.
