Cuban State Security monitors Serafín Sánchez Park without intervening in the event
14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 8 October 2024 — At least a hundred people, most of them very young, gathered this Monday in the Serafín Sánchez park, in the heart of Sancti Spíritus, for an evening of prayer and tribute to José Manuel Carbajal Zaldívar, known as El Taiger. The musician, who was shot in the head last Thursday in Miami and is fighting for his life, has shown that there are young people willing to mobilize on the Island, even if it is not because of their difficult living conditions, but rather the health of a local singer.
The vigil began around 8 pm, in a square packed with young people between the ages of 14 and 20, who began to turn on their cellphone flashlights and sing some of El Taiger’s songs. The presence of State Security was perceptible to the most alert eyes, although this was not the case for most of the participants, who were more concerned with the emotion of the night than with whether someone was vigilantly watching them.
“They [the agents] were there more to calm a possible situation than to manage a gathering they had organized”
“They [the agents] were there more to calm a potential situation than to manage a rally they had organized,” said a 14ymedio contributor who attended the gathering. The government has been very supportive of the singer in recent days, considering him a “victim of a society as violent as the American one,” which includes statements by Abel Prieto, former Minister of Culture and current director of the Casa de las Américas.
“All Cubans wish for his recovery,” said the senior official on X, in a post in which he shared an informative note from the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM). Prieto also stressed that El Taiger “has not renounced his nationality or his love for Cuba.”
Hours earlier Lis Cuesta, the wife of Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel had expressed her solidarity with the artist. “Simultaneously, in several cities in Cuba and in Miami, there are people holding a vigil for the life of El Taiger, a very popular urban artist there and here, who was the victim of a violent crime in South Florida,” wrote Cuesta on social media. “The Cuban nation is one, even if hatred tries to divide it. We wish him recovery and strength to his family and friends,” she added.
These sentiments could lead one to think that the Government is behind the acts of solidarity with the musician, but this is not what could be seen in Sancti Spíritus, where the political police agents were constantly on the alert as they observed the crowd.
In the middle of the event, a police vehicle appeared on Independencia Street, next to the park, and two police officers walked around the area, where they talked with the State Security agents, without anything noteworthy happening despite the fact that a truck with special troops was located in front of the old Hotel Perla and several red berets got out to observe the scene.
The event was still going on around 11 pm, the same day it was learned that the artist was in stable condition. Marcel Reinosa, the Cuban reggaeton singer’s manager, said that “there is a small amount of progress,” although he remains in a very serious condition.
“Doctors announced that his kidneys began to function, and that his body began to control its temperature”
“Doctors announced that his kidneys had begun to function and that his body had begun to control its temperature,” a sign of a development that is, however, not very promising, given the severity of his injuries. On Tuesday, doctors at Jackson Memorial will carry out further tests on the artist to assess his clinical condition.
Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales confirmed on Monday that the case is being investigated as an attempted murder based on the forensic evidence found. The official confirmed that Cuban Damian Valdez Galloso is considered a “person of interest” in the investigation and $5,000 is being offered for his capture.
“This individual has relevant information about what happened with El Taiger,” said Morales, who asked for public collaboration.
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