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Growing Up in Miami was a very interesting experience because for the most part you were surrounded by Cubans who exiled from Cuba. So you would eat Cuban food, dance to Cuban music, hear stories of how beautiful it was and how one day we would return to see for ourselves. Thirty years later and I have yet to meet my parents’ Cuba, which now is just what’s left of it. How can it be that after 40 years of a debilitating Communist regime, countless atrocities and the imprisonment of innocent people which includes my Tia Cary (I’ll get back to my Tia in a moment) can this man still be controlling this Beautiful Island 90 miles from Key West, USA?

It is truly perplexing and heartbreaking that I cannot visit the place my mom and dad were born and experience my culture and my ancestry first hand. When Hispanics trace back their origin, they usually end up in Central America, South America, Puerto Rico, Dominican, Mexico or Spain. CUBA is the only Hispanic country that is still under Communism and it’s illegal to travel there. For those of you who don’t know much about the beauty that once was, just imagine Paris surrounded by water…that’s Havana. The countryside with its rolling hills and natural wildlife and pure sugarcane; the water so crystal blue and warm with the softest sand you have ever felt. It was a true gem. Now, so many buildings are destroyed and the streets are filled with potholes and mud. The people are simply surviving on the basics and keeping the faith that maybe one day everything will change, though you would never hear that from them because they are not allowed to express those thoughts.

This brings me back to my Tia Cary Roque. At 19 she was arrested and spent the next 15 years in a prison that you can only imagine in your worst nightmares. All for simply having the guts and pride to speak up and say “THIS IS NOT RIGHT - IT HAS TO CHANGE” along with over 100,000 other political prisoners. Some have died and alive my Tia Cary has been fighting this personal revolution for a free CUBA. Que siga la Tradicion!!

So, as a proud first generation Cuban- American I make it a point to share, enlighten and express my free opinion whenever possible about the truth of my CUBA. Because I have been blessed and never take for granted living in the USA. I can also express myself through my music, and I wrote a song as HOMAGE to my Parents’ country and I hope and pray that I can sing that very song in a FREE CUBA one day.

Listen to “Cuba” by Karina Nuvo