The Hip-Hop Song That's Driving Cuba's Unprecedented Protests [Patria y Vida]

Cuba is suffering through a summer of dire shortages, from food and electricity to medicine. Fed-up Cubans are taking to the streets in unprecedented protests — and they're voicing their outrage through a song called Patria y Vida — homeland and life.

The slogan is a spin on the communist regime's decades-old slogan of "patria o muerte" — homeland or death. In strong terms, the song accuses the government of destroying the quality of life in Cuba, a message that quickly found traction with protesters who are demanding change.

"No more lies. My people demand freedom. No more doctrines!" the song says. It calls for people to shout "patria y vida ... and start building what we dreamed of/ what they destroyed with their hands."

The viral hit has become a political slogan Patria y Vida has been a phenomenon since its release this year. The song is a collaboration between a group of Afro-Cuban reggaeton and hip-hop stars based in Miami, such as Yotuel Romero and Alexander Delgado, along with rappers Maykel Osorbo and El Funky, who live in Cuba. A YouTube video of the song has been viewed nearly 6 million times.

When the single was released, Romero, who is part of the group Orishas, said that for him, the song was motivated by a look back at Cuba's long history.

"Before the revolution, we had a beautiful Havana; now we have ruins," he told Billboard in February. "From that point on, I said, 'I'm not going to be quiet anymore.' "

Where the original Castro-era slogan was a call to arms for people to stand against outside influence, the new slogan tells people to hit the streets and take back their country.

Patria y Vida quickly became an anthem. When large protests erupted in April, NPR's Carrie Kahn declared it "astonishing" and a sign of "a growing movement challenging the regime like we haven't seen in decades."

After the song's release, Cuban authorities arrested Osorbo. His supporters have submitted complaints to the United Nations over his treatment, saying that the government is persecuting him for expressing his views and for helping create the song.

The protests have been some of Cuba's largest Thousands of Cubans have been taking part in protests in Havana and elsewhere on the island, shouting their demands for more freedom along with calls for an end to high prices and economic turmoil. A run of electrical blackouts has added to their frustrations.

Crowds have been chanting slogans against Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel as well as demanding more access to vaccines. Cuba has been experiencing a record spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths in recent weeks. Overall, the nation has reported nearly 245,000 cases.

Marches and protests have been disrupted by police, who made mass arrests and used tear gas against demonstrators on Sunday. Videos circulating online have also shown officers firing toward crowds, reporter Nora Gámez Torres of the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald told NPR.

There are several main reasons, including U.S. economic sanctions that were tightened under former President Donald Trump and the pandemic's toll on the island's economy and infrastructure. Cuba is also getting less economic help from one of its main allies, Venezuela.

"The government is in debt and has no money," Torres said. "So the population has been enduring severe scarcities of food and medicine."

Many are also angry and frustrated by Cuba's policy of selling food in U.S dollars — which most of the country's people don't earn.

Remittances from relatives in the U.S. and elsewhere are also down. And like many places, Cuba's tourism industry has been hollowed out by more than a year of travel restrictions due to COVID-19.

"Even if the government retains control, which is the most likely scenario, Cubans now see what they can do if enough people come out to protest," she said. "So the genie is out of the bottle now and the frustration is not going anywhere."

With the government facing a deep crisis, she warned, we'll likely see more repression in the coming days.

The Cuban government is blaming the U.S. Granma, the Communist Party newspaper, blames the protests on "annexationist interests, paid and directed by the United States."

Díaz-Canel has said Cuba is facing difficulties that it knew were coming when the U.S. put tight economic sanctions on the country. And while the pandemic has made the situation worse, the president said every country in the world is being forced to cope with the coronavirus.

In a speech Monday, Díaz-Canel also dwelled on his country's national electrical system, saying its infrastructure is hobbled by both the U.S. embargo and by overconsumption.

And you are my siren song
Y eres tú mi canto de sirena

Because with your voice my sorrows go away
Porque con tu voz se van mis penas

And this feeling is already stale
Y este sentimiento ya está añejo

You hurt me so much even though you are far away
Tú me dueles tanto aunque estés lejos
Today I invite you to walk through my lots
Hoy yo te invito a caminar por mis solares

To show you that your ideals serve
Pa’ demostrarte de que sirven tus ideales

We are human although we do not think alike
Somos humanos aunque no pensemos iguales

Let’s not treat or harm ourselves like animals
No nos tratemos ni dañemos como animales
This is my way of telling you
Esta es mi forma de decírtelo

My people cry and I feel their voice
Llora mi pueblo y siento yo su voz

You five nine me, double two
Tu cinco nueve yo, doble dos

Sixty years locked the domino
Sesenta años trancado el dominó
Bass drum and saucer to the five hundred of Havana
Bombo y platillo a los quinientos de la Habana

While at home in the pots they no longer have jama
Mientras en casa en las cazuelas ya no tienen jama

What do we celebrate if people walk fast?
¿Qué celebramos si la gente anda deprisa?

Trading Che Guevara and Martí for the currency
Cambiando al Che Guevara y a Martí por la divisa
Everything has changed, it is no longer the same
Todo ha cambiado ya no es lo mismo

Between you and me there is an abyss
Entre tú y yo hay un abismo

Advertising a paradise in Varadero
Publicidad de un paraíso en Varadero

While mothers cry for their children who left
Mientras las madres lloran por sus hijos que se fueron
you five nine, me, double two
tu cinco nueve, yo, doble dos

(It’s over) sixty years locked the dominoes, look
(Ya se acabó) sesenta años trancado el dominó, mira

(It’s over) your five nine, me, double two
(Se acabó) tu cinco nueve, yo, doble dos

(It’s over) sixty years locking the domino
(Ya se acabó) sesenta años trancando el dominó
We are artists, we are sensitivity
Somos artistas, somos sensibilidad

The true story, not the wrong one
La historia verdadera, no la mal contada

We are the dignity of an entire people trampled on
Somos la dignidad de un pueblo entero pisoteada

At gunpoint and with words that are still nothing
A punta de pistola y de palabras que aún son nada
No more lies
No más mentiras

My people ask for freedom, no more doctrines
Mi pueblo pide libertad, no más doctrinas

Let’s no longer shout homeland or death but homeland and life
Ya no gritemos patria o muerte sino patria y vida

And start building what we dream of
Y empezar a construir lo que soñamos

What they destroyed with their hands
Lo que destruyeron con sus manos
That the blood does not continue to flow
Que no siga corriendo la sangre

For wanting to think differently
Por querer pensar diferente

Who told you that Cuba is yours?
¿Quién le dijo que Cuba es de ustedes?

If my Cuba belongs to all my people
Si mi Cuba es de toda mi gente
your time is up, the silence is broken
ya se venció tu tiempo, se rompió el silencio

(It’s over) the laughter is over and the crying is already running
(Ya se acabó) ya se acabó la risa y el llanto ya está corriendo

(It’s over) and we’re not afraid, the deception is over
(Se acabó) y no tenemos miedo, se acabó el engaño

(It’s over) it’s sixty-two hurting
(Ya se acabó) son sesenta y dos haciendo daño
There we live with the uncertainty of the past, planted
Allí vivimos con la incertidumbre del pasado, plantado

Fifteen friends on, ready to die
Quince amigos puestos, listos pa’ morirnos

We raise the flag still the repression of the regime to the day
Izamos la bandera todavía la represión del régimen al día

Anamel and Ramón firm with their poetry
Anamel y Ramón firme con su poesía
Omara Ruiz Urquiola giving us encouragement, of life
Omara Ruiz Urquiola dándonos aliento, de vida

They broke down our door, they raped our temple
Rompieron nuestra puerta, violaron nuestro templo

And the world is aware
Y el mundo ‘tá consciente

That the San Isidro movement continues, since
De que el movimiento San Isidro continua, puesto
We continue in the same, security putting prism
Seguimos en las mismas, la seguridad metiendo prisma

These things make me indignant, the enigma is over
Esas cosas a mí como me indignan, se acabó el enigma

Ya sa ‘your evil revolution, I am Funky style, here is my signature
Ya sa’ tu revolución maligna, soy Funky style, aquí tienes mi firma

You are already left over, you have nothing left, you are already going down
Ya ustedes están sobrando, ya no le queda nada, ya se van bajando

The town got tired of holding on
El pueblo se cansó de estar aguantando

A new dawn we are waiting for
Un nuevo amanecer estamos esperando
It’s over, you five nine, me, double two
Se acabó, tu cinco nueve, yo, doble dos

It’s over, sixty years locked dominoes, look
Ya se acabó, sesenta años trancado el dominó, mira

It’s over, you five nine, me, double two
Se acabó, tu cinco nueve, yo, doble dos

It’s over, sixty years locking the domino
Ya se acabó, sesenta año trancando el dominó
Homeland and life
Patria y vida

Homeland and life
Patria y vida

Sixty years locked the domino
Sesenta años trancado el dominó
Source: Musixmatch

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