Juanes and Shakira support Cuban dissidents

Colombian pop icons Juanes and Shakira are both demonstrating their serious sides, issuing statements in support of Cuban dissidents "The Ladies in White."

The Ladies in White, or Damas de Blanco, are a Cuban protest group made up of wives and relatives of jailed dissidents.

Shakira on Thursday posted a statement on her website saying "Today I join the call to action ... to support the Ladies In White, who are true heroines of our time." The singer went on to criticise Cuba's "repression and violation of human rights."

"I hope that this rising up for the freedom ... plants seeds of liberty in all the young people of the world, because it is us who justice depends on," proclaimed the "Hips Don't Lie" singer.

Meanwhile rock star Juanes said on Thursday in an emotional post on his Twitter page ""Amnesty, forgiving and forgetting ... I am with you Damas de Blanco, I'm with you families of abductees, I'm with you ... Freedom!"

Juanes went on to call for “Freedom for all the political prisoners, USA, CUBA, VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA ... wherever they may be ... freedom, please.”

Shakira is no stranger to serious political commentary, pronouncing in January that the problems of Latin America could be blamed on its colonial history.

Juanes has also been known to involve himself in world affairs, holding a peace ceremony on the Colombia-Ecuador border in December, in which he exchanged national flags with an Ecuadorian musician and urged the two countries to "never give up on the cause of non-violence and brotherhood."

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