HAVANA (AP) — Hundreds of people on Tuesday attended a Mass in Havana to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Celia Cruz’s birth just days after Cuban authorities canceled a theater performance in honor of the revered singer without explanation, drawing criticism over what some say was an act of censorship.
Activities to remember the illustrious Cuban artist — one of the island’s most prominent voices internationally — were organized around the world except in Cuba, where she never returned after going into exile in the United States in 1960 and openly defining herself as a radical anti-Castro activist.
“She was an ambassador of Cuban music, of Cuban rhythms in the world… of our flavor, of our dances, of our joy, of ‘that’ contagious thing,” said Father Ariel Suárez during his homily.
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