Posted on 09/20/2009 4:30:36 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
US President Barack Obama has welcomed plans for a massive but controversial concert in Havana on Sunday by Miami-based music star Juanes.
Obama told US Spanish language network Univision that the concert, which is expected to draw around half a million Cubans, could help improve ties with Cuba.
Obama's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had met the Colombian singer before he left for Cuba, with both drawing criticism from Miami's Cuban exile community for a performance they say will legitimize the island's communist regime.
"My understanding is that he's a terrific musician. He puts on a very good concert," Obama told the station as part of a five-channel media blitz to sell his struggling efforts to reform US health care.
"I certainly don't think it hurts US-Cuban relations, these kinds of cultural exchanges," he added.
But he warned there was a limit to what cultural exchanges could achieve.
"I wouldn't overstate the degree that it helps," Obama said.
"What I'd really like to see is Cuba starting to show that it wants to move away from some of the anti-democratic practices of the past."
Tensions surrounding the "Peace without Borders" concert at Havana's Revolution Square even led to a death threat against Juanes, but ahead of the event the singer remained undeterred in dreaming the huge concert could usher in a message of unity.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Crystal clear.
more like dropping like flies.. a Cuban Oktoberfest.. in September
A policeman carries a girl who fainted during the "Peace Without Borders" concert in Havana's Revolution Square September 20, 2009. Cubans were expected to fill Havana's massive Revolution Square on Sunday for a concert by Colombian singer Juanes and a lineup of top Spanish-language musicians who hope art can do what politics has not -- bring together Cubans here and in the United States. The much-hyped event will be beamed live to an international television audience, including viewers in Miami, the heart of the Cuban exile community and center of opposition to Cuba's communist-led government. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan (CUBA)
A woman is evacuated after she faints during the Peace Without Borders concert in Havana's Revolution Square September 20, 2009. Cubans were expected to fill Havana's massive Revolution Square on Sunday for a concert by Colombian singer Juanes and a lineup of top Spanish-language musicians who hope art can do what politics has not -- bring together Cubans here and in the United States. REUTERS/Rickey Rogers (CUBA ENTERTAINMENT POLITICS)
Colombian singer Juanes performs a sound check in preparation for the "Peace Without Borders" concert at Revolution Square in Havana on September 19. Over half a million people are expected to gather for the controversial concert that Juanes promises will be "historic" but has prompted furore in Miami's exile community. (AFP/File/Adalberto Roque)
Useful idiots for “Peace.”
Obama, first day in Oval Office: I need a list of every enemy of the United States. No, not to check on how much of a threat they are! To make friends, of course!
Sheesh, how many cubans is this going to tick off!
That third image says it all. Che my ass!
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