An operator from the Ministry of the Interior confirmed to ’14ymedio’ the whereabouts of the leader of Porno para Ricardo, who was considered “missing” this Friday
14ymedio, Havana, 4 May 2024 — The Cuban musician and activist Gorki Águila was detained this Friday at the José Martí International Airport and remains at the Santiago de las Vegas Police Station in Havana, as confirmed to 14ymedio by an operator from the Ministry of the Interior. The leader of the rock band Porno para Ricardo had been intercepted by State Security agents when he tried to travel to Mexico.
This Friday, the political activism organization Estado de Sats reported the arrest of the musician shortly after learning that he was “regulated” and cannot leave the country. The operator of the General Directorate of the Police with whom this newspaper communicated by telephone assured that Águila is in the Santiago de las Vegas police station, belonging to the Havana municipality of Boyeros, which is where the Police usually take those who are detained at the airport.
The news of the arrest was echoed by the Cultural Rights Observatory, which issued an “alarm for the arbitrary detention” of Águila and declared him “disappeared.” The organization criticized that the political police “significantly violate freedom of movement, among other human rights” and requested the immediate release of the activist. Ciro Javier Díaz Penedo, a member of Porno para Ricardo, a colleague of Águila and who resides outside the Island, also denounced the arrest.
Ciro Javier Díaz Penedo, a member of Porno para Ricardo, also denounced the arrest
Águila, whose songs became a symbol of the counterculture opposed to the regime, has been in the crosshairs of State Security for decades. The musician has suffered many arrests, the most notable of which was in 2008, when many artists and intellectuals, inside and outside Cuba, demanded his release.
The rocker has had numerous immigration-related run-ins with the island’s authorities. In 2010, for example, the regime hindered his return to Cuba from the United States, alleging that his passport had not been extended. Águila extended the validity of the document that same day and traveled the next, but continued to be harassed.
See also:
Porno Para Ricardo, El Comandante (original video) , studio version, Lyrics in English
Porno Para Ricardo, Balcony Concert
Ciro Díaz: Venezuela Now Has Imported Blackouts
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