When the artist sang “when the revolution comes down,” shouts of “hopefully” were heard in the audience
14ymedio, Darío Hernández, Havana, September 20, 2025 — Silvio Rodríguez returned to the steps of the University of Havana this Friday afternoon after more than 20 years without singing in that emblematic place, and he did it with a concert full of emotion, uncomfortable silences and a display of lights that crudely contrasted with the reality of the country’s blackouts. The opening of his new Latin American tour ended in a deployment of police, who guarded, in addition to the tense tranquility of the public, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and his wife, Lis Cuesta.
From early on it was clear that this would not be just any night. “There was a lot of security for an audience of young university students. Everyone was checked at the entrance before they could go in.”
The president went up on a side of the stage and greeted the audience two or three times. Very few returned the greeting. On the rooftops of adjacent buildings, agents were present within a wide cordon of security.
Dressed in blue and olive green, agents of the Ministry of the Interior hovered around the entire perimeter of the university. They were also among the public dressed in civilian clothes, in keeping with the regime’s tradition of infiltrating its agents, which did not prevent some shouts of disagreement with the authorities of the country.
Some of them booed Díaz-Canel, and when the time came for Silvio to play El necio (The Fool), one of his most emblematic songs, tension reappeared and some daring cries of “hopefully” were heard in response to “when the revolution comes down.”
The whole family of actor Jorge Perugorría and several musicians like López Gavilán were seated in the VIP area, including Carlos Alberto Cremata, director of La Colmenita (The Little Beehive, a Cuban children’s theater company), among many others.
Along with the students, who enjoyed the music that is part of the DNA soundtrack of several generations, there were also those who could not resist the temptation to turn the concert into a political act. Among the stands were several Palestinian flags and, near the end, Silvio himself sang with a Palestinian scarf around his neck, placed by his daughter Malva. This was before singing La era está pariendo un corazón (The Age is Giving Birth to a Heart), another of his most famous themes. He used the moment to harshly criticize Israel for its actions in Gaza: “I think about you and fail to understand how you have so soon forgotten the breath of hell,”he said quoting the Cuban poet Luis Rogelio Nogueras.
There were Latin American tourists on the steps, attracted by the music and the tumult of students, and in the center of the crowd, a small group of spectators waved a July 26 flag.
The concert began with Ala de colibrí, followed by a medley of the musician’s classics. The crowd sang along, despite the fact that most were born when the New Trova movement was already history. Many 50-year-olds were also seen in the audience.
In an interview with EFE days before the concert, Rodríguez, now 78, explained that he wanted to start the tour in Cuba, and specifically at the University of Havana, because the students had given him hope: “They gave me hope when I saw their attitude,” he said in reference to the protests against the tarifazo [massive of rate increases] of Etecsa, the State telecommunications company, at the end of May.
Also present was the memory of the national blackout just a week ago, from which much of the country still hasn’t recovered, especially when the play of lights dazzled the staircase thanks to two gigantic generators placed carefully hours before. Interviewed briefly by 14ymedio before the concert began, a neighbor said sarcastically: “That’s so you can see the blue color of the unicorn.” (Silvio has a song entitled Blue Unicorn.)
Last night the university was, without a doubt, a mirage of light and music that later was returned to the darkness of Havana. When the concert ended, people started running in the streets looking for a bus to return to their homes and the blackouts.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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