Pablo Milanés meets again with his audience in Havana

The singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés was reunited on Tuesday with his compatriots in an emotional recital in Havana, in which more than 10,000 attendees sang his most emblematic songs, after years of not seeing him perform in his land.

The audience erupted in a scream when Milanés appeared on stage, wearing a dark shirt and waving with a raised hand.

I have always said that it is my best public. The public of the tours that I have done and that I have been able to verify in the attention and respect that it has given me, but you really went too far, “he said before thousands of cell phone lights that were turned on to receive him.

“You are great Pablo!”, “I love you Pablo”, his fans who had not seen him since before the pandemic began shouted from the seats.

Milanés, founder with Silvio Rodríguez of the Cuban Nueva Trova, returns to Cuba in the midst of some tension due to the criticism launched at the government last year, after the historic demonstrations of July 11.

It is irresponsible and absurd to blame and repress a people who have sacrificed themselves and given everything for decades to sustain a regime,” he said on Facebook at the time.

Last week some of his fans protested for considering limited the 2 thousand 6 seats of the room where the recital would initially take place.

On Thursday, the authorities changed the venue to the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum, with space for 15,000 spectators.

During the concert, the audience nostalgically sang the lyrics that have accompanied them for generations.

One of the most vibrant moments was when Pablito, as his compatriots call him, intoned “It hasn’t been easy.” With many standing and carrying Cuban flags, the audience sang in one voice:

It has not been easy to have an opinion that asserts my vocation, my freedom to choose.”

At 79 years old, Milanés offered a repertoire of more than 25 songs, showing his powerful voice, despite health problems that have plagued him for years.

The presentation is part of the “Días de Luz” tour, which has included presentations in cities in Spain, where he lives, and in the United States.

People identify themselves from love, history, from fighting, all the elements that have characterized this society,” María Isabel Álvarez, a 73-year-old retired psychologist, told AFP at the end of the concert.

Pablo “has always been here, there, and when he is in the afterlife, he will still be here,” she added.

Raúl del Pino, a 33-year-old fan, considered the show “a great gift” and pointed out that “perhaps many do not count on seeing it again” because of his age. “Especially because it has been many years since he has appeared here and who knows when he will be the next time.”