A Chicago Tribune report describes the Nueva Trova musical movement as follows:

Nueva Cancion, rooted in South America, and Nueva Trova, originally from Cuba and heavily promoted by the revolutionary government, were sister movements of Latin American song in the 1970s and 1980s: folk-based, inclined toward indigenous rhythms and instrumentation, often putting poetry to music, and nearly always politically left (17 Mar. 1994).

The Website of Vicente Feliú, a Nueva Trova member, states that the movement of the Nueva Trova was shaped in 1972 by artists Pablo Milanés, Silvio Rodríguez, Noel Nicola, Lázaro García and Augusto Blanca (no date). According to the Website, Feliú has been involved in the movement for 15 years and has occupied many posts, including that of president.

According to a Washington Post report, Milanés has been referred to as the "Bob Dylan of Cuba" (6 Mar. 1979). The same report adds that Nueva Trova (new song) is similar to American folk music of the 1960s. According to a 9 September 1995 Billboard report, a concert by Milanés and singer Victor Manuel was canceled in the port of El Ferrol, in Spain. It was one of at least three concerts by "so-called communists" to be canceled by municipal governments in Spain during the summer of 1995 (ibid.). The same report states that Milanés was a deputy in Cuba's National Assembly (ibid.).

In a 12 June 1995 Reuters report, Milanés was reported to have "again criticized" the Cuban Culture Ministry for closing down the Pablo Milanés Foundation, a non-governmental organization promoting Cuban and Latin American culture founded in 1993. Milanés, also a member of parliament, accused the ministry of being unable to cope with the autonomy of the foundation (ibid.). However, despite the accusation, Milanés reaffirmed his "unquestionable support for the Cuban Revolution" (ibid.).

A 10 July 1997 PR Newswire report states that Rodríguez, famous throughout Latin America and Spain, was greeted with protests by Cuban exiles during an April 1997 concert in Puerto Rico because of his "public support of the Cuban revolution and its leaders." The same report adds that "ironically," in the past Rodríguez faced censorship in Cuba because of the "political ambiguity" of his lyrics.

According to an 18 July 1997 Sun-Sentinel report, Rodríguez aired pro-Castro opinions during a live interview show with Jaime Bayly on CBS TeleNoticias on 16 July. In responding to a question by a member of the Cuban American National Foundation, a Florida-based Cuban exile group, about why Rodríguez did not sing about political prisoners, the Cuban singer stated: "I believe that all of the political prisoners in Cuba are in prison because of terrorist activity...because of armed and aggressive actions" (ibid.). Rodríguez also "defended" the Cuban government by saying that the country's health care system and higher education system compensated for Cuba's economic problems and food shortages (ibid).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Billboard [Gloucester, Mass.]. 9 September 1995. Howell Llewellyn. "A Disastrous Season for Spain's Summer Concert Circuit." (NEXIS)

Chicago Tribune. 17 March 1994. Achy Obejas. "Nueva Cancion, rooted in South America, and Nueva Trova, originally from Cuba..." (NEXIS)

PR Newswire. 10 July 1997. "Controversial Cuban Singer Silvio Rodríguez on 'En Directo Con Jaime Bayly." (NEXIS)

Reuters. 12 June 1995. "Cuba's Milanes Says He's Still a Revolutionary." (NEXIS)

Sun-Sentinel [Fort Lauderdale]. 18 July 1997. David Cazares. "Cuban Singer's Radio Interview Garners Attention; Silvio Rodríguez Airs Pro-Castro Opinions." (NEXIS)

"Vicente Feliú." no date. [Internet] http://www.guegue.com.ni/vincentefeliu/Home.htm [Accessed 25 May 1998]

The Washington Post. 6 March 1979. Final Edition. Tom Zito. "They Boogied in Havana; the Message: Rock Is Subversive, Even in Cuba." (NEXIS)

The following information on the "dangerousness" laws of the Cuban Penal Code is additional to that already found in the Documentation, Information and Research Branch (DIRB) Question and Answer Series paper entitled: Cuba: The Human Rights Situation of April 1996.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch/Americas and the United Nations "Report on the situation of human rights in Cuba, prepared by the Special Rapporteur" all provide examples of how the dangerousness provisions of the Penal Code have been applied to persons who cannot find work in Cuba (AI Aug. 1997, 8; ibid. Sept. 1994; HRW/A Feb. 1994, 5; United Nations Commission on Human Rights 11 Jan. 1995, 12)

Human Rights Watch/Americas' February 1994 paper entitled Stifling Dissent in the Midst of Crisis reported that hundreds of people were arrested for so-called "illegal economic activities," including cases where people had been arrested for dangerousness for not working (vínculo laboral) or for refusing to accept a job in agriculture (5). In most of these cases, individuals were subjected to prison or agricultural labour sentences, while others were simply fined and released (ibid.).

Between August 1993 and September 1994, Amnesty International documented many cases where people had been detained and imprisoned for up to four years for dangerousness, which is officially known as the "El Estado Peligroso y Las Medidas de Seguridad" (The Dangerous State and Security Measures) under the Penal Code (Sept. 1994). This report entitled Hundreds Imprisoned for "Dangerousness" documented several cases where people were imprisoned under dangerousness legislation for refusing to work (ibid.). In some cases, individuals lost their jobs because they were perceived as not supporting the government, and then were accused by police of dangerousness for not working (ibid.). In this Amnesty International report, the cases of Israel Mederos Sanchez, a group of young people from San Miguel del Padro, Luis Felipe Lorens Nodal and Hernando Duarte Montalvo are examples of the application of the dangerousness laws to persons who are not working. For more detailed information on the application of the dangerousness law, please consult the above-mentioned Amnesty International report available in all Regional Documentation Centres.

The United Nations "Report on the situation of human rights in Cuba, prepared by the Special Rapporteur" states that according to reports received, cases of dangerousness have included "acts of vandalism or social protest such as the distribution of pamphlets or the painting of anti-Government slogans on walls, not having an acceptable job, petty larceny, throwing stones at commerical establishments, etc." (United Nations Commission on Human Rights 11 Jan. 1995, 12).

Amnesty International's August 1997 report entitled Cuba: Renewed Crackdown on Peaceful Government Critics highlights the case of Pascual Escalona Naranjo, a government critic arrested for dangerousness on the grounds that he refused to get work (8). Following the arrest and release of Escalona and his wife on 14/15 June 1997, Escalona was summoned by police and told that he would be tried for dangerousness; when he refused to sign the official warning against him, he was re-arrested on 22 July 1997 (ibid.). He was charged with dangerousness before a municipal court on the grounds that he refused to work. However, Escalona maintained his position that his inability to find work was because of the official orders against him (ibid.). Escalona was sentenced to serve a one-year prison sentence (ibid.).

More recent information on the application to unemployed persons of the dangerousness laws in Cuba could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Amnesty International. August 1997. Cuba: Renewed Crackdown on Peaceful Government Critics. (AI Index: AMR 25/29/97) London: Amnesty International.

_____. September 1994. Cuba: Hundreds Imprisoned for "Dangerousness." [Internet] http://www.amnesty.org/...1994/AMR/250194.AMR.txt [Accessed 1 May 1998]

Human Rights Watch/Americas. February 1994. Vol. 6, No. 2. Cuba: Stifling Dissent in the Midst of Crisis. New York: Human Rights Watch.

United Nations Commission on Human Rights. 11 January 1995. (E/CN.4/1995/52). Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Cuba, Prepared by the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Carl-Johan Groth, in accordance with Commission Resolution 1994/71.

Additional Sources Consulted

Amnesty International. January 1998.

Cuba: New Cases of Prisoners of Conscience and Possible Prisoners of Conscience.

INS Resource Center. June 1995.

Cuba: Human Rights in Cuba.

Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs [Miami]. 1997-1998.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1997-1998.

Latin American Regional Reports: Caribbean & Central America Report [London]. 1997-1998.

Electronic sources: IRB Databases, Global News Bank, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News Connection (WNC).