Juanes (Hispanic Bono) peace concert, non-political , raises hackles on all sides (not 2 sides)

[UTUSN]

**********QUOTE********
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanes

On April 19, 2006, Juanes performed before the European Parliament, as part of a campaign to increase awareness against the use of land mines around the world, including in his native Colombia. He was first singer to perform in the hemicycle where the European Parliament holds its plenary sessions.<25> The Parliament gave a symbolic gift of €2.5 million to demine Colombia and to rehabilitate victims of the landmines.<26> In honor of his work and his music, he was given an escopetarra (a decommissioned AK-47 converted into a guitar) by peace activist César López; he later sold it at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills for US$17,000.<2> Juanes held a benefit concert on May 24, 2006 in conjunction with KLVE and Univision which raised roughly US$350,000 to care for injured children and provide prosthetics, wheelchairs, and land rehabilitation.<26>

On July 19, 2006, French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres awarded Juanes with the highest cultural honor given by France, L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, declaring him "Knight in the order of Arts and Letters" for his work in social activism.<27> In December 2006, work began on a recreational park for the rehabilitation of the handicapped named "Parque Juanes de la Paz" in Medellín.<28> The 68,000-square-meter facility will cost COL$10.6 billion, financed in part by the government of Medellín, and is to be completed by May 2007.<28> ....

On March 16, 2008, Juanes organized a free concert as a response to the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis.<29> This concert took place on the Colombia-Venezuela border. This was a free event and gathered an audience of 300.000 people. It was broadcasted by Colombian and Venezuelan television stations. A Yahoo-Telemundo partnership webcasted the event.<30> The concert featured the well-known artists: Miguel Bose, Alejandro Sanz from Spain. Juan Luis Guerra from the Dominican Republic, Ricardo Montaner from Venezuela, Juan Fernando Velasco from Ecuador and Juanes and Carlos Vives from Colombia. The concert became a reality with the help of many private companies from Colombia and Venezuela. As an important remark concerning this event, Colombian president Alvaro Uribe had expressed days before the concert that he would attend the event. Juanes' manager replied that since it was an artistic event with no political affiliations they preferred the president not to be present. President Uribe replied in an official letter that he accepted Juanes' manager's suggestion.




http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/19/arts/music/19cuba.html?_r=1

Concert Plans in Havana Start Furor in Miami

.... ...he recently received a death threat on Twitter. “There is so much pain,” he said. “I understand that pain, but we have to look to the future.”
As Juanes now knows, when it comes to Cuba, that tends to be difficult. He said he simply wanted to play music for a country kept isolated by politics — bringing together Latin Music’s biggest stars, as he did in his first Peace Without Borders concert in 2008, on a bridge between Venezuela and Colombia. ....

In May Juanes met with Mrs. Clinton and other officials to request travel licenses, mainly because he wanted his equipment and technicians from Miami to make the trip. He received the support he needed. His manager, Fernán Martínez, said that seven shipping containers of gear left Miami for Havana last week, and that more than 80 Americans would be part of the entourage of more than 120.

The Cuban government, after Juanes visited in June, also signed on. Juanes said he told officials that he was not a Communist and that he would play only if the government’s role were kept to a minimum. “We asked for no meetings, no politicians, no hosts onstage,” Juanes said. ....

Ms. Estefan has said that she and her husband, Emilio, will not return to Cuba until it is a democracy, but she rejected the idea that Juanes should cancel his project. “We’ve learned to live with others’ ideas, ” she said.

Juanes said he sees this as progress. He, Mr. Bosé and others said they hoped the concert on Sunday would start a broader healing process among Cubans, other Latin Americans and Americans. They maintain that their concert differs from previous ones — the Havana Jam, headlined by Billy Joel, in 1979, and Music Bridges, with Mick Fleetwood and Jimmy Buffet, in 1999 — because the circumstances have changed.

“It’s the right time,” Mr. Bosé said. “The administration of Obama has opened the door for the first time, and there’s no way back.” ....

Now, all eyes turn to the Cuban government, which, despite its criticism in state media of those in Miami who have opposed the concert, is showing signs of concern. Officials have limited visas for some international news outlets. A handful of high-profile dissidents and independent journalists in Cuba have endorsed the concert, a stance that may have raised hackles in official Havana.

Juanes, however, plans to do his best to ignore the political static. He has written a new song for the concert, “Cubano Soy” (“I am Cuban”). ....





http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE58H0Q620090918

Juanes concert latest front in Havana-Miami row

By Jeff Franks

HAVANA (Reuters) - Half a million people are expected to fill Havana's Revolution Square Sunday for a concert that is supposed to be about peace, but has become another front in the war of words between Havana and the Cuban exile community in Miami.

Colombian musician Juanes, a winner of 17 Grammy awards, has worked with Cuba's communist authorities to put together the event in which he and 14 other musical acts from six countries will play for free for the Cuban masses.

Anti-communist Cuban exiles in Miami have pilloried Juanes, accusing him of pandering to the Cuban government. Juanes lives on Miami's exclusive Key Biscayne. ....

Juanes has said the point of his "Peace Without Borders" concert is not political, but to encourage "hope and dreams."

"I am not a communist. I am not aligned with the government," he told the Miami Herald newspaper.

"Our only message is one of peace, of humanitarianism, of tolerance, a message of interacting with the people." ....

The group said this week it will return to Calle Ocho on Sunday with a steamroller to crush CDs of musicians who take part in the Juanes concert.

Even some of the city's most ardent foes of the Cuban government chastised the Calle Ocho protest, saying it looked like something communists or Nazis would do. They complained that it had made the exile community in general look bad.

It did not help that police had to put a watch on his home after he received a death threat on his Twitter account.

'GREAT PUBLICITY COUP'

The turmoil in Miami has had the opposite effect of what was likely intended. It has generated greater interest in the concert and been a bonanza for the Cuban government. ....




http://www.examiner.com/x-12748-DC-Dance-Travel-Examiner~y2009m8d31-Juanes-concert-in-Cuba-singer-to-pay-300000

Juanes concert in Cuba, singer to pay $300,000

August 31

Despite the negative opinions expressed by many towards Juanes’ concert in Cuba, the singer said that he was willing to pay $300,000 to finance the concert if no sponsors sign up to fund the concert.

"I don't need to do this. I'm doing this because I really believe that music is powerful," the singer told The Miami Herald.

Maybe so, but his plans for a peaceful, apolitical concert are causing strong reactions in the Cuban American community. ....

The singer reassures that his intentions for the concert are to bring a message of peace, humanism, tolerance to the Cuban people and are not affiliated with any political undertones.




http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=13226

Juanes Concert On Without Sponsors

HAVANA TIMES, Aug. 31 - Colombian singer Juanes will not have foreign sponsors for his Sept. 20 Peace Concert in the Cuban capital, due to “tremendous pressure” surrounding the project, informed IPS on Monday.

Cuban artists Silvio Rodriguez, Amaury Perez, Carlos Varela, Van Van and Equis Alfonso are planning to represent Cuba on the same venue at the Plaza of the Revolution before an expected crowd of several hundred thousand.

Other guest foreign artists and bands expected to perform are Jovanotti, Hierbabuena, Calle 13, Olga Tañon and Julieta Venegas, noted IPS quoting Spain’s El Pais daily.

As the concert nears, EASA, a Costa Rican travel agency, is offering a tourist package for the “Juanes in Cuba” event with flights, lodging, a tour of the capital and transportation to the concert, reported the El Nuevo Herald of Miami.




http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/soledad_obrien_heads_to_cuba_136231.asp

Soledad O'Brien Heads to Cuba

This weekend, she will be in Cuba to broadcast from the "Concert for Peace" live in Havana on Sunday. "American Morning" and "CNN Newsroom" will be covering the concert, which will take place in the Plaza de la Revolución and is causing some controversy in the United States. O'Brien will be interviewing Colombian music star Juanes who organized the concert and Willy Chirino who will also be featured in October's "Latino in America."

Oh, and today's her birthday.

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[imdjh]

1. Hispanic Bono? LOL! In Bono's dreams does he look like that. Who cares what he sounds like. nt

[Lost-in-FL]

2. Good for him!

but he ain't Bono.

[imdjh]

3. What was your first clue? Hottness?

[geek_sabre]

4. He's a great artist

I have all his albums, and speak very limited spanish.

[kenichol]

5. Thanks for sharing

I'm always glad to hear about courageous, big-hearted men & women using their talent and good looks for a better world. And boy does this guy have good looks!

[CarlosQC]

6. Can you please stop calling us Hispanics?

A bit of history lessons will show you that we the people of the Americas are not Hispanics, because our heritages are mostly Native American, African and European -from several countries, not only Spain and Portugal (Hispania)- so please stop that Hispanic BS.

Juanes is a white man from Colombia. Simple as that.

[silverweb]

7. Someone told me "Latino" is the correct word....

... or "Latina," as the case may be, for persons from Latin America. Is that proper or not?

[UTUSN]

8. Well, since this was kicked, "correct" ain't the issue. RACISM,like calling this dude

"a WHITE MALE FROM COLUMBIA" *is*.

Not to mention being RUDE, CONDESCENDING, and ARROGANT.


So, I'll take advantage of somebody's kicking this LEGITIMATE thread, by replying to the fellow above:

(Responding to Post #6: )

Your topic (please start your own thread) has been hashed over for as long as DU has existed. Your "white man from Columbia" is a racist meme. You are being rude, condescending, and arrogant. All your chip on your shoulder will accomplish is to get this perfectly legitimate thread locked (at my request if need be). Welcome to DU.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. Excuse me? You clearly did not sign up for the Genographic Project (which I did, by the way!)

Sign up for it and I guarantee you'll stop playing races. It's not that expensive. My blood line goes waaaaaaaaay back European. I was the *ULTIMATE* European. I'm very fair skinned, have dark hair and look like some sort of dark-haired aryan. Guess what, friend? I share genes with Asians. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

So while I share with you the idea that skin and economics should not correspond, I will tell you that we all are a mess of genes.

Deep down in our hearts is one gene: If we all knew that, we'd stop the bs.

As for Juanes, he is HOT! Love that body.

[Thickasabrick]

9. Whoa.......that guy should be in a movie so I can stare at him more. nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

11. Not only does he have the hottest body, but he is also KIND and GENEROUS

How often do you find a combination like that?