SF Jazz, a leading institution for that genre in USA and the world, canceled this Monday the presentations in that country of the Cuban group Espirales, because its members did not receive the visa necessary for travel.
Through its profiles on social networks, the island’s musical project, made up of violinist Tania Haase, double bassist Olivia Rodríguez, pianist Rodrigo Garcia and the percussionists Alejandro Aguiar and Jesús Estrada, announced the decision made by the US authorities.
“It has been decided that the members of Espirales are not eligible for a work visa, unfortunately, although we have in our history several trips to the United States, in which we have promoted the exchange between cultures and friendship between our peoples,” reads the released statement.
It is also highlighted that this happens “despite the fact that this trip included workshops, concerts, exchanges with educational centers of higher musical education, and the closing of the tour were 4 presentations at SF Jazz.”
In turn, it is stated that two weeks before, 3 of the 4 concerts scheduled as part of the tour “were completely sold out.”
The members of the group also thank with words of affection all the people who were waiting for them, as well as the organizers of the tour, and hope that, in the not-so-distant future, “we will be able to meet again…”.
Espirales was founded in 2023, when its members had just graduated from the University of the Arts. Since its creation, the group has ventured into different aspects, such as chamber concert music, Cuban music, jazz and world music.
They have performed on the stages of Jazz Plaza International Festivalthe Habana Clásica concert music festival and the most recent Cuban popular music and jazz festival Varadero-Josone.
With the support of the Fondo Arte Joven project, in 2024 he developed concerts and workshops in several cities in the United States, Spain, Switzerland and Romania.
History repeats itself
Since the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House to assume a second presidential term, the denial of visas for officials, athletes and artists has skyrocketed as part of the confrontation policy promoted by the US administration against Cuba.
The US denies “transfer permission” to Cuban officials, and they fail to reach a PAHO meeting
The most recent action of this type occurred at the end of last September. The US government denied a “transfer permit” to two Cuban officials, thus preventing their participation in the Directing Council 62 of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
It is not the first time that the cultural sector suffers from these decisions, since last April the United States embassy in Havana denied visas to Cuban students from the National School of Art (ENA), who would visit the Berkeley Secondary School in that country to develop a cultural exchange.
Other similar situations have been experienced repeatedly in sports, when managers have not been able to participate in important meetings that have been held in the United States, and the same It has happened to teams from different disciplines in important sporting events.
