Music industry icons in Miami, Florida, announced the organization of an unprecedented charity concert against communism scheduled for April 11, 2020 – in the heat of a presidential election in which several Democrat candidates have openly embraced socialist ideas.
The “Concert Against Communism” is the brainchild of legendary Miami producer Frankie Marcos and will be co-sponsored by the Cuban Democratic Directorate, a non-profit organization that advocates for human rights on the island. Proceeds for the concert will go to non-profits working to help the victims of communism.
The concert will be geared towards featuring Hispanic artists popular in Miami. Organizer Frankie Marcos and his band, Clouds, are scheduled to perform, as well as salsa legend Willy Chirino, a vocal human rights advocate in the Cuban American community. Also on the list are jazz legend Arturo Sandoval, singer-songwriter Amaury Gutiérrez, reggaeton artist Chocolate MC, and punk rocker Gorki Águila, whose anti-communist anthems have landed him in prison dozens of times while on the island.
As the organizers have months to prepare, they expect to add dozens of acts to the list, as well as appearances by local and national politicians who support the efforts against communism.
Communism is an ideology containing a spectrum of extreme leftist views – from traditional Marxism to Castroism to the personality-cult strain currently ruling China – that champion complete, totalitarian control of the lives of every individual and complete state control of all property, including citizens as property. In light of the fall of the Soviet Union, which openly referred to itself as communism, many who adhere to communist ideology now use other terms with less negative connotations. In Latin America, most of the allies of the Cuban regime identify as “socialist,” attempting to reshape their respective countries in the image of Cuban communism.
Communism has killed over 100 million people in the countries that have embraced it.
The cultural effort arrives in Miami at a pivotal time for Latin America. Following a meeting of the Sao Paulo Forum – a coalition of leftist governments in the region – in July, violent leftist uprisings have spread throughout the continent. Police in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Chile have all arrested Cuban government agents and Venezuelan nationals believed to be working on the part of the socialist dictatorship there participating in riots against the government.
While a wave of leftist leaders greeted Latin America at the turn of the 21st century, the collapse of Venezuela under socialism triggered the election of conservative leaders throughout much of the rest of the region. The longest-serving of the democratically elected socialist leaders, Evo Morales of Bolivia, attempted to stay in power in a fraudulent election last month that led to his resignation – and to a wave of terrorist activity on behalf of his supporters when, fearing prosecution, his Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party leadership fled with him to Mexico, leaving conservative President Jeanine Áñez in office.
“The Cuban exile community, as witness to the oldest communist dictatorship in Latin America, has a platform of fraternity and solidarity to the exile communities of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and all those countries threatened by this ill,” the organizers of the Concert Against Communism said of the event in a press release published last week, promising a series of promotional campaigns explaining the dire consequences of communist policies in countries where they are implemented and the need for more awareness of the problem in the United States.
Miami’s abundant Latin American population makes it a natural host for the event. It is also currently experiencing a backlash against Cuban artists who support the communist regime visiting Miami and making money in the United States, something the Cuban embargo against the United States prevents Cuban-American artists from doing. Cuban-Americans launched a campaign in September against continued visits to the United States by Gente de Zona, a Latin Grammy-winning tropical pop group that has performed for members of the Castro family and publicly mourned the death of Fidel Castro. Another campaign against communist singer Haila Mompié resulted in Mayor Francis Suárez of Miami declaring her persona non grata in the city and her concerts canceled.
A week ago, Cuban-Americans organized a protest against businesses that book pro-communist artists in Miami, where thousands of people trace their ancestry to, or are directly, the victims of a communist regime.
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