I've never heard of the Cuban rock band Hipnosis, but then I make it a habit of not listening to musicians who bear the imprimatur of the Castro dictatorship.
Well, that's no longer a barrier after members of the group marked their arrival in Miami, from where they were secheduled to fly to Oakland, Calif., for a music event, by defecting.
Capitol Hill Cubans has the story:
Famed Cuban heavy metal band, Hipnosis, defected upon arriving in the U.S. this week.
They had been invited to a music event in Oakland, but asked for asylum upon arriving in Miami.
The band, which was subject to the Castro regime's official Cuban Rock Agency, had an official censor from the Ministry of Culture accompanying them on the trip.
(Why did this official get a U.S. visa?)
Cuban state media revealed in shock: "Hipnosis was completely affiliated with the governmental system of cultural promotion."
The band members have a different opinion, which they can now freely express.
Here are their first quotes in freedom:
"Things for us were closed in Cuba and this [Ministry of Culture official] began to place all sorts of rules on what we could and couldn't do on the trip."
"Uncertainty about the future exists everywhere, but I'd rather face uncertainty in a place with options and opportunities, than in a place where there is nothing and no one aspires to anything."
"We didn't have enough space and there were too many limitations to perform in Cuba, and we want to think big."
We wish them luck and success.
Here's an interview with the band after their defection:
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