The Cuban singer Celia Cruz was remembered this Friday at the sanctuary dedicated to the patron virgin of Cuba in Miami, where the choir performed the song “Guantanamera” as a tribute on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of her death.
“The guarachera of Cuba and the world”, as her relatives present at the tribute said, died on July 16, 2013 and in Miami the anniversary was commemorated in advance since the central act of the commemorations will take place in New York this weekend week.
Some 50 people, including a cousin, a nephew and other relatives of the artist, attended the inauguration and blessing of a bench with the name of Celia Cruz engraved located on the boardwalk next to the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre and looks towards Cuba.
After the inauguration, a mass was celebrated dedicated to the salsa star, who was very devoted to the patron saint of Cuba, whose name she bore because her name was Celia Caridad Alfonsa Cruz.
In the homily, the officiating priest sadly recalled that Celia Cruz, who went into exile in the United States, was never able to return to Cuba and asked God for the release of political prisoners and for “all Cubans to live in full freedom and justice”.
Among those attending the mass was the singer Yotuel Romero, one of the authors of the song “Patria y Vida”, which became the anthem of the protests that broke out in Cuba on July 11, 2021, of which to turn two years old.
In a statement to EFE, Romero, who was accompanied by his wife, the Spanish singer and actress Beatriz Luengo, and their two children, said that “Celia must be remembered every day.”
He stressed that although “La guarachera de Cuba” had to leave physically 20 years ago, it is still present spiritually.
“Celia is present in my life and in that of my family,” Romero said.
Omer Pardillo, who was the representative of Celia Cruz and today runs a foundation that bears her name, stressed that the tributes to the “guarachera of Cuba” will continue in Miami with an exhibition that will open its doors in the Little Havana neighborhood on July 27 and gathers objects that belonged to him and are related to his career, as well as clothes and wigs that he used in his artistic performances.