At the risk of being accused of facetiousness, it’s difficult to say which will be the more historic event in Cuba this month: President Barack Obama’s visit on the 21st and 22nd, the first by a sitting American president since Calvin Coolidge in 1928; or the free concert in Havana by British rock superstars The Rolling Stones, on the 25th. Seriously though, both are groundbreaking – revolutionary even – in their own right.
Mr Obama is not only a ‘rock star’ president in manner and global appeal, he has also done more than any of his predecessors to work with his Cuban counterpart to restore the relationship between the two former Cold War adversaries to one of mutual respect and pragmatic engagement.
Notwithstanding his inability to persuade a hostile, Republican-dominated Congress to lift the embargo, Mr Obama’s visit is the welcome and logical culmination of the process of rapprochement initiated by President Raúl Castro and himself in December 2014. It is perhaps the final step he can take, within the parameters of his power as president and in the context of the charged politics of an American election year. And it cements his legacy in Latin America, which for the best part of the past 20 years, was increasingly at odds with the USA over the latter’s intransigence on Cuba.
As for The Rolling Stones, suffice it to say, they are no ordinary band. They are rock and roll royalty, one of the greatest and most influential rock groups in history, not just because of their longevity – they came together in 1962, coincidentally the same year the Cuban embargo was imposed – but also for their innovative incorporation of rhythm and blues, soul, country and gospel influences into rock music. Perhaps most symbolically for their Cuban foray, despite their huge commercial success, their embrace by the establishment and their advanced years, which might actually be an asset in dealing with Cuba’s political gerontocracy – front man Mick Jagger and lead guitarist Keith Richards are 72, drummer Charlie Watts is 74 and guitarist Ronnie Wood is a relatively youthful 68 – they still enjoy the reputation of having been amongst the original rock and roll rebels.
There is, however, a certain inescapable irony in their forthcoming performance in Cuba. Rock music was politically incorrect, practically banned, in the 1960s and 1970s, as much as an example of Western imperialism and decadence as for its capacity to subvert. People had to listen to acts like the Stones almost clandestinely and they were never shown on Cuban television. But now, as another icon of the sixties counterculture sang, the times they are a-changing, even if rather belatedly, in Cuba. And the response there has been generally positive.
State organ Granma has given the concert the official seal of approval, declaring that it “will be a historic moment that will open the doors for other great bands to arrive in Havana.” Other reactions have verged between incredulity and delight.
Writer Leonardo Padura has said, “Through the door that Obama will leave, Mick Jagger will enter and through the one he leaves, Chanel will come in [the French fashion house is putting on its first-ever Latin American show in Havana in May]. It’s all a revolution.” For him, the Stones’ concert is also “an act of reparation for a historical injustice” with regard to the suppression of rock music by the authorities and is, more significantly, “a demonstration of the level to which the changes in Cuba are reaching”.
According to another writer, Wendy Guerra, the concert is “the end of musical politics and a break with the official aesthetic”; it is an “ideo-aesthetic opening” which, along with Mr Obama’s visit and Chanel, is a “gift” that represents the opportunity for people to make their own choices.
Others are not so happy, though. The great Cuba-born saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera, in exile in the USA since 1981, has opined that the Stones, along with the Pope and Mr Obama, are “legitimising” the Cuban government and that the concert will not fundamentally change or improve anything in Cuba. His bitterness may be clouding his judgment, however.
Since December 2014, the change in the relationship between the USA and Cuba has been the harbinger of the post-revolutionary change that is bound to engulf Cuba sooner or later. The opportunity to make choices is the first step towards enjoying full rights and liberties. As David Blanco, a young Cuban pop singer, says the island is living “a moment of change and reconciliation” and “music and art have always served to open minds”.
Both Barack Obama and The Rolling Stones are, in their different ways, opening doors and minds. They may well be opening the floodgates of change. Indeed, it is quite incredible to contemplate that they will both be in Cuba within a few days of each other, to be followed by Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel. Maybe one day soon, Mr D’Rivera and others like him will also be invited and will agree to perform in their native land.
