A popular Cuban radio announcer, Joseíto Fernández, composed in 1920 the music of the famous “guajira” entitled “Guantanamera”. The “guajiras” are musical pieces that allow the interpreter to accommodate comments in verse, usually improvisations, with the most varied reasons.
A few years later, a composer of Asturian origin, Julián Orbón, introduces several stanzas to Guantanamera from the Simple verses by the poet Jose Martí and popularized the song to the point that in 1963 the piece gained international recognition when it was performed by the singer Pete Seeger during a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York.
The lyrics of the version that has been released internationally and that has been translated into several languages, are as follows:
Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera
guantanamo
Guajira Guantanamera
I am an honest man
Where the palms grow.
I am an honest man
Where the palms grow
and before I die I want
take my verses from the soul.
Guantanamo…
My verse is light green
and of a burning carmine.
My verse is light green
and of a burning carmine.
My verse is a wounded deer
looking for shelter in the mount.
Guantanamo…
For the poor of the earth
I want my luck to cast
for the poor of the earth
I want my luck to cast
and the mountain stream
it pleases me more than the sea
Guantanamo…
Readers may be wondering about the relationship of this famous Cuban folk song with this website dedicated to business promotion. Well, it is the case that President Obama has announced a trip to Cuba on March 21 and 22, 2016 and, among other issues, it is likely that the Guantánamo naval base will be aired.
The Guantánamo Naval Base is located on a territory of 120 square kilometers to the east of the island. The US military stay in the beautiful Guantánamo Bay was legitimized with the signing by the two governments of an indefinite-term lease from year 1903.
Since 2002, the US government has been using the military base as a holding center for prisoners captured in the War on Terror that followed the attack on the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001.
President Obama has tried for years to close Guantánamo but his initiative has been blocked by the legislative majority in Congress. Although the Cuban President knows this, it is very likely that the issue will be included in the agenda of the first visit of a US president to Cuba in 88 years.
The two fundamental requests of President Castro to President Obama seem to be the lifting of the embargo and the return of Guantánamo. Obama has publicly shown that he is in agreement with both measures, but he finds himself handcuffed by the Republican majority to advance.
Thus, I have been thinking that the issue of Guantánamo could be solved by adopting a naive formula but of general interest and benefit: Why not promote the development of a Disney World in the area currently occupied by the Naval Base?
Comments welcome...
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*www.negociosenflorida.com
If you control-click on this link you can hear Guantanamera sung by Julio Iglesias: https://youtu.be/ikVNjQApJ4A)