President Fidel Castro led a day of homage on Friday to John Lennon as a "revolutionary" hero in a cultural about-face by Cuba's communist authorities toward the Beatles star, whose music was once frowned on as a decadent Western influence.
To the musical backdrop of All You Need Is Love, a military-dressed Castro, aided by star Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez, unveiled a bronze statue of Lennon sitting on a bench in a Havana park.
"What makes him great in my eyes is his thinking, his ideas," Castro told reporters after the ceremony, which was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Lennon's murder in New York.
"I share his dreams completely. I too am a dreamer who has seen his dreams turn into reality," added the 74-year-old former guerrilla who took power in the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
Other honors for the Beatles star included a documentary by Castro's personal cameraman, Roberto Chile, tributes from state media and an open-air concert on Friday evening in Cuba's "anti-imperialist" arena opposite the US diplomatic mission.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Beatles songs were considered "ideological diversionism" by Cuban authorities. Local music lovers recount that Liverpool's Fab Four were barely heard on the island, with the exception of clandestine parties where smuggled tapes might be played with the lights off.
In the still tightly controlled but culturally more liberal Cuba of today, Lennon is now cast as a born rebel and a constant victim of US harassment.
Friday's honors were intended to "integrate Lennon into the patrimony of the cultural values that our people admire and respect," an official statement said.
"Declassified FBI documents have made public the aggression he suffered for his radical position against the Vietnam War during Richard Nixon's administration," it said.
Despite his enthusiastic tribute, Castro confessed that he did not listen much to the Beatles in their heyday because "I did not have much time." He added that unlike others around the world who cut their hair Beatles-style, "I never cut my hair modeled on anyone."
What would he say to Lennon if the singer and songwriter were still alive? "'I'm sorry I didn't meet you before,'" Castro said.
The Communist Party daily, Granma, put the Beatles on a list of the most "relevant" figures of the 20th century last year, below Castro, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, and Argentine-born guerrilla Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. A spokesperson for Indonesia disaster mitigation agency said there were no reports of damage so far. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province, said their evacuation was underway in coastal villages and there were no reported casualties so far. DZBB radio, broadcasting from the
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
RSS