“My country hurts me a lot, the Cubans hurt me”: Alfredito Rodríguez

I am a being who has always been away from violence, although I have my share of “Galician” when I turn red and it is logical when I am offended, but no, I went to claim my rights.

I made a song at the time, in the late 70s, early 80s, called “Good Person,” which talked about “breathing evenly,” that the “air flies,” and that breathing evenly is a very strange phrase for people who feel omnipotent, who feel like they are senators of other people’s dreams. And I went to complain because the number was completely suspended. But, due to things in life, after that happened, it was the most popular song in Cuba at the time. They even gave me the “Sunflower Award” from the magazine Give your opinionby popular vote. That song was in many temples, in many churches in Cuba, the pastors or priests spoke about the song “Good person.”

You had a talk show on television, you worked on different topics, different interviewees, how do you remember that time?

I had a lot of shows, I think four or five shows I hosted, I directed. In the 70s I inaugurated a program in Cuba called “Good afternoon,” and there we hosted a group of artists, we sang, we made music.

Was there autonomy in the program to decide?

Yes, in those programs, in the interview programs, in “Good afternoon.” It was simply saying, “well, this is what I want to do, and if this is not done, then it is not done, otherwise they will convince me that it is done badly.” Since they were never able to convince me that this was done wrong, inviting people to make phone calls with others who were not in Cuba, rescuing – so to speak -, going to the collective memory and telling them “this person existed, this person was a star.”

At that moment I was getting bored. It seemed to me that I was repeating myself and repeating myself when I stood on stage. The first program was called “En Familia con Alfredo”, from Monday to Saturday; the second was “Su Noche con Alfredo”, or the other way around; the third, “Sábado Especial”, which was two and a half hours on air; and then, a program called “The Difference”, on Wednesdays.

It brought me many beautiful things. Of course, a lot of scolding, but I decided that since mom and dad stopped existing, other people weren’t going to scold me without me doing something wrong, so I ignored it and went forward, and I went forward one more time because the favor of the people, for the public that, simply, has supported me, has nursed me, has loved me, I have no way to thank them.

How and why did you emigrate, and what were those first years like?

Well, if my children were in Cuba, were in Burundi, were in Tahiti, I would definitely be there.

I don’t know how to live without my family, I don’t exchange gold or material goods for the goods that I think are true, call it home, not house, call it love, definitely that. I am not willing – nor was I ever willing – to change anything material or anything that would affect my spirit. Thus, Alfredo, my eldest son, decided to emigrate, I stayed with my wife and my dog ​​Lucas in Cuba, and then a contract came to Mexico. I was for two years, three years, artistically directing Television Channel 13 in Mexico, I brought my son Daniel with me to Mexico, I brought my dog, and one day Daniel got up and told me, “Dad, I’m going with my brother. ”.

And that same day I told my wife, “well, now is where I at least go to Istanbul or go wherever, but I go where they are.” Although the first word people say is “freedom,” I cannot have freedom if I am not tied, so to speak, to the people I love, and I am not with the people I love, because not everything is free.

Has migrating changed you or stopped you?

Of course. I was a being that filled stadiums, that had crowds in front of me, but you know what? I am fulfilled, because “I was”, I was. That is to say, I don’t do it now, nor do I think I could continue doing it with this amount of years that I am, because I am not 30 or 20 or 18 or 16, like when I started. But I am compensated, because I am a fulfilled man, both in my professional career and in my private life. Furthermore, I am not an egomaniac or a megalomaniac, nor do I have delusions of grandeur of any kind. I think, as José Martí said, that “all the glory in the world fits in a grain of corn,” and if at one point I represented something, that’s good, because in reality, I neither consider myself a musician, nor do I consider myself the best singer, nor do I consider myself the most technical.

Of course, I consider myself a person who tries to communicate with others and touch their heart. If I achieve that, I am blessed.

What is life like now?

I live with my wife, my two children. Alfredo lived for many years in Los Angeles, he came here, he had his daughter here in Miami, although he does not live in Miami or Los Angeles, or in Afghanistan, he lives around the world and lives on a plane. And Daniel, my other son, also lives very close to us. We are a fairly small family.

What happened to your son that he was denied entry to Cuba?

My son worked for many years with the late Quincy Jones, who expressly requested that when he went to Cuba, he wanted to go with Alfredo.

In this way, he spoke once, I think he spoke twice, I don’t know if he spoke three times, and he simply received deaf ears. So I advised Alfredo not to try to explain that to Jones – when I say “that”, it is not Cuba, because Cuba is a marvel, but that political system, so to speak, I think I am calling it very well. No one will understand you, because no one understands it. Nobody understands that you deny entry to a person of whom you should feel proud, who has done nothing to you, who has put the name of Cuba very, very, very high, and that you simply refuse to respond that you let him in. That already says it all, no one has to “let” me enter my country, to any of us, no one has to give any permission for anything.

Have you returned to Cuba?

I returned once while I was living in Mexico, my mother-in-law became seriously ill and my wife was going, and once again I risked a lot of things. I accompanied my wife, and I told her, “you have always been with me and now you are not left alone,” and I went for about two days, and I have not returned.

When you live somewhere other than Cuba, you begin to evaluate things, like the meaning of the word “alas,” which is very important. My country hurts me a lot, the Cubans hurt me.

How would you define the system that exists in Cuba and what Cubans are going through?

It is simply an arrogance and a dictatorship, definitely, there is no other way, there is no other way. When there are people who talk about Cuba, those who want to misunderstand – because I am sure they want to misunderstand – say, “look how he speaks badly of his country”, and no, it is one thing to speak badly of Cuba and one thing is speaking ill of the misgovernment that exists in my country are two completely different things. José Martí lived abroad for many years, and he was not against Cuba, he was against Spanish colonialism, so one thing has absolutely nothing to do with the other.

I wouldn’t be able to get a sheet of paper, cameras, cassettes, or anything to talk about this story that hurts me so much. I want Cubans to know – those who think one way and those who think another – that I thank all of them, because they trained this man, no conservatory trained me, nor did any specific school train me in Cuba. The people simply made me, the people formed me and I would be ungrateful if I didn’t thank them. What I want for everyone is unity, what happens is that I cannot ask others to do what I was not able to do, because that is demagoguery.

I think that God is up there and will determine what my country deserves, which is such a beautiful country, which is such a welcoming country.