By Lawrence A. Johnson The
Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 9:43 p.m. Jan. 21, 2001
Though last weekend's Music of the Americas Festival at FIU was an
artistic success, a shadow hovered over the event because three Cuban composers
were not granted exit visas from the Cuban government in time to attend.
The composers -- Juan Blanco, Juan Piñera and Harold Gramatges --
are leaders in Cuba's contemporary music scene.
"We were very disappointed that my Cuban colleagues could not be
here," said Orlando Jacinto García, artistic director of the
festival. "We would have liked to have them attend and participate in our
panels. Of course, we still presented their works, but it's not the same thing."
"The Ministry of Foreign Relations never forwarded the request to
the American Interests Section," said Lisandro Péres, director of
the Cuban Research Institute at FIU. "That's where it did not happen."
For a Cuban citizen, applying for an exit visa is an elaborate process.
The three composers would have applied with their official musical institute,
which then would forward the application to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign
Relations. Finally it is sent to the U.S. Interests Section. If granted, it
returns by the reverse route. However, the applications didn't arrive at the
U.S. Interests section until Friday -- a day after the festival opened.
Péres said that the delay may have been due to bureaucracy or
incompetence, but that the requests could have been intentionally bottlenecked,
as well. In October when FIU's Cuban Research Institute sponsored a conference
on Cuban-American cultural issues, the Cuban government officially refused to
allow its people to attend because of the political stands of some of the
participants.
Based on previous experience, García, himself a Cuban-American, is
skeptical. Several Cuban composers and artists participated in a previous FIU
event in March of 1999, but they flew in from another conference in New York.
"My own feeling is that this time it may have been a problem with
them coming straight to Miami," García said. "And this is a
cultural exchange, which is supposed to be easy to approve."
García said that the composers blamed themselves for not keeping
on top of the paperwork. "But what else can they say?" he said.
Lawrence A. Johnson can be reached at ljohnson@sun-sentinel.com or
954-356-4708. | 