HAVANA, Cuba – Edesio Alejandro, one of the most important figures in Cuban music, is in serious condition in a Madrid hospital due to a spinal tumor.
The legendary artist is receiving treatment for the disease, but doctors have told the family that his condition is serious due to “advanced metastasis,” they told Cubanet sources close to the family.
“Edesio knows the stage of his cancer, but he is fighting with optimism and is receiving the best possible care,” he told Cubanet a producer linked to the artist in Madrid, who asked to remain anonymous.
The singer, arranger and composer traveled to the Spanish capital in 2023 to receive medical care for prostate cancer because he could not get it in Cuba due to the lack of treatment.
“I came because I have been living with prostate cancer for four years. Recently, the medicine and the vaccine that controls this cancer have run out in Cuba. And since I am a Spanish citizen, I came to see myself here to undergo treatment. But it seems that because of the time I was without the vaccine, the cancer became resistant, and they changed my treatment to one that does not exist and has never existed in Cuba. So I have to be here, I have no other choice: if I want to live, I have to be here,” He said in March of this year Cuba Diary.
The Cuban actor and singer known as Miguel Elkubanisimo has released a campaign to collect donations on the GoFundMe platform with the aim of financing “an alternative treatment” valued at 36,000 euros, which could help save his life despite the severity of the condition.
“There is an alternative treatment that he needs. We have made progress with the radiation and in September he will start chemotherapy, one session every two weeks,” wrote his wife Idolka de Erbiti Sánchez.
The artist’s partner added that “the total cost of the treatment amounts to 36,000 euros (since it is an alternative treatment it lasts between 1 and 2 years). We can only reach this sum with the solidarity and support of friends, family and all those who have been touched by his music and his spirit.”
The musician said he had been hospitalized for serious illnesses caused by the disease.
“I know that many of you, my friends and followers, are already aware of my medical situation, as I have tried to keep you informed through this medium. I deeply appreciate your prayers, meditations and the fact that you share them with your friends, churches and places of worship. Currently, I am admitted to a sanatorium in Madrid. Although cancer has not defeated me, we are in a very close fight and things are not going well. I am in the sanatorium because the disease is causing a lot of pain, and we will be like this until God decides,” he wrote in a message in the fundraising campaign.
Edesio Alejandro, 66, is one of the legends of Cuban music. He has written music for film and television and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of the United States. which gives out the Oscar Awards.
The artist is one of the thousands of Cubans who have suffered from the lack of medicines and basic supplies on the island to treat minor or major illnesses, such as cancer in this case. Thanks to Spanish medicine, he has been able to treat the disease and have the hope of recovery despite the advanced stage of the disease.
His son, Cristian Alejandro, is one of the most recognized young Cuban singers of his generation and has also ventured into television with the program In Zone with Cristian Alejandrocancelled in 2023 by television authorities due to “lack of budget,” according to statements made by Edesio Alejandro himself.
The show had aired several episodes in which Cristian interviewed different personalities of Cuban culture, including his father.
