Cuban regime censors a tribute to Celia Cruz on her 100th birthday
The show, organized by the group Teatro El Público and directed by 2015 National Theater Award winner Carlos Díaz, was part of worldwide celebrations marking the 100th birthday of the artist (1925–2003), recognized as one of the most internationally renowned voices in Cuban music.
Cuban singer Celia Cruz (Archive).
Cuba's cultural authorities canceled a tribute to Celia Cruz, the legendary "Queen of Salsa," which was scheduled for October 19 at the Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC) in Havana, on what would have been her 100th birthday.
The show, organized by the El Público Theater Group and directed by 2015 National Theater Award winner Carlos Díaz, was part of worldwide celebrations marking the 100th birthday of the artist (1925-2003), recognized as one of the most internationally renowned voices in Cuban music.
The National Center of Popular Music, which is part of the regime's Ministry of Culture, announced tersely on its Facebook page that “the performance by the Teatro El Público group, scheduled for Sunday the 19th at 8:30 p.m. in Nave 3 of the Fábrica de Arte Cubano, will not take place,” without giving a reason or mentioning Celia Cruz by name.
The show’s cast included several of the island’s renowned artists, among them Estrellita, Lucho Calzadilla, Freddy Maragoto, Roberto Romero, Georbis Martínez, Danielito Tri-Tri, Brian Pérez and Chai Deivis Torres. The production featured texts and musical direction by Norge Espinosa Mendoza and the collaboration of La Mansión Castillo.
Actor Daniel Triana (Danielito Tri-Tri), one of the participants, wrote on social networks: “The tribute show to Celia was censored, thanks to the same people as always,” alongside the official statement.
Denunciations of censorship and pressures on artists
The move sparked a wave of criticism and accusations of censorship both in Cuba and among the exile community. Music producer and historian Rosa Marquetti, author of Celia in Cuba (1925-1962) and Celia in the World (1962-2003), called the decision "a new chapter of cultural censorship in Cuba."
"Some of those involved in this heartfelt initiative, after days of rehearsals and work, recount incidents of personal summons, unappealable orders and threats anticipating negative consequences for those who dare to disobey," Marquetti posted on her Facebook account.
The scholar also described the National Center for Popular Music’s statement as “erratic and fearful,” calling it “a bureaucratic entity that has nothing to do with the performing arts.” According to Marquetti, the announcement “reveals the fear and haste with which it was written” and reflects “the vindictiveness, malice and arrogance that continue to underpin Cuba’s cultural policy.”
In a broader reflection, Marquetti wrote: “For 60 years they have feared that voice—trembling just at the thought of speaking or writing her name, terrified by its extraordinary power to inspire. They know well that her cry of ‘¡Azúcar!’ and her joy draw and persuade far more effectively than the bitterness and karmic negativity with which they impose orders, throw punches and threaten with the only thing they have left: the brute force of power.”
For 60 years they have feared that voice—trembling just at the thought of speaking or writing her name, terrified by its extraordinary power to inspire. They know well that her cry of ‘¡Azúcar!’ and her joy draw and persuade far more effectively than the bitterness and karmic negativity with which they impose orders, throw punches and threaten with the only thing they have left: the brute force of power.
The music historian emphasized that “no musician ever sang to Cuba as much as Celia Cruz,” noting that “the name of Cuba shone, danced and delighted in her voice like no one else’s, all over the world.”
Actor Freddy Maragoto, also a member of Teatro El Público, said, “Anyway, she always comes back, because when talking about Cuban music, you have to include Celia Cruz.”
Official silence and international tributes to the "Guarachera de Cuba"
While the Cuban government remains silent on the anniversary, international tributes are multiplying. In the United States, Los Angeles has declared Oct. 17 as Celia Cruz Day, and the Leon Medical Centers in Florida are hosting a traveling exhibit featuring the artist’s personal belongings.
In addition, satellite radio station SiriusXM launched the channel ¡Celia Cruz AZÚCAR!, which will honor the life and legacy of the “Guarachera de Cuba” for one year.
In 2024, Celia Cruz became the first Afro-Latin woman to appear on a U.S. coin, a recognition that reaffirmed her global cultural impact. Streets named after her, Barbie dolls inspired by her, and hundreds of events, concerts and honors around the world have celebrated the Cuban singer over the past year.
However, Cuba, the country where she was born and to which she was never able to return, has canceled the only event planned for her centennial. Havana authorities have not commented on the decision.
More than two decades after her death, Celia Cruz remains a symbol of identity and pride for millions of Cubans, both on the island and abroad. Her voice—officially banned for years—continues to serve as a bridge of memory, resistance and culture that not even institutional silence has been able to extinguish.
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