Chucho Valdés Announces He Is Staying to Live in the USA

November 26, 2024

Cuban musician Chucho Valdés revealed this past weekend to news channel América TeVé that he considered himself one more exile, confessing his decision to live permanently in the United States.

He also denied the news that he had signed, in 2003, the controversial letter "Message from Havana for Friends Who Are Far Away", in which the summary trial and execution of three Cubans who hijacked the Regla ferry in Havana with the intention of emigrating to the United States were justified.

In conversation with Juan Manuel Cao, presenter of the program A Fondo, the legendary and multi-awarded jazz musician categorically denied that he had supported the murder of three young Cubans accused of hijacking the "Lanchita de Regla", in Havana, a topic he has referred to several times: "I didn't sign anything like that. I was on tour in the United States at that time", he affirmed.

The artist, one of the most influential figures in Cuban music in recent decades, explained the reasons that led him to settle outside the island, citing among the causes the regime's abuse and constant political manipulation that have marked his career and that of other artists from the Caribbean nation.

The 13-time Grammy winner (including several in its Latin version) reiterated the regret he felt upon verifying that his name was being used to endorse decisions made by the Cuban regime without his approval.

Valdés referred to this incident as "the most painful experience of his life" and pointed out that, while his conscience is clear, he regrets the doubts that persist regarding his position on that dark episode of Cuban dictatorship.

On the subject, he had written on his social networks in 2021: "I never signed anything like that. Even though you may have seen my name on a document, at that moment I was on tour in the United States, a government official located me in the middle of it speaking to me about including my name in a document against terrorism, at that moment I was not aware of what was happening in my country and I didn't have internet access", he responded at that time after being questioned about his alleged support for the executions.

Chucho Valdés confirmed that he has completely settled in the United States, to become part of the Cuban community in Miami. He added that he identifies as an exile, and expressed a shared feeling of longing and commitment to his countrymen in the struggle for a liberated Cuba. The jazz musician, founder of the prestigious Irakere orchestra in the 1970s, confessed that he has made Broward, Florida, his permanent home in recent times.

But the master of Latin Jazz was not the only major artist who spoke about the subject of dictatorship in Cuba in that interview. Another Caribbean star joined the conversation between Cao and Valdés: Arturo Sandoval.

The well-known trumpeter agreed in recognizing that in "Cuba there is no respect for the Constitution or for people's rights. It is the result of a dictatorship that uses everything for its convenience", he affirmed.

Sandoval referred to several episodes of censorship and abuse that he lived through since his youth, such as the time he was imprisoned during his mandatory military service for listening to a jazz program broadcast from abroad. "I was accused of being a traitor for listening to 'La hora del jazz' on shortwave. I spent three and a half months in prison just for that", he recounted.

In 2022 Chucho, son of the legendary Bebo Valdés, made clear his position regarding the Havana regime and other particularities of his life to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. In that report he also condemned the government's response to the peaceful protests of July 11, 2021.

"The Cuban public loves me. The regime is another thing. They haven't bothered me, but I have no kind of relationship with them. Let's say I'm on standby", Valdés said more than a year ago.