The Puerto Rican tropical music singer made the comments Monday night on “Esta Noche tu Night,” a prime time, one-hour skit comedy television program which airs Monday through Fridays at 10 p.m. on Mega TV.The hit Spanish-language show is hosted by renowned Cuban actor, comedian and director Alexis Valdés.
“If you [critics] can do it better than Juanes and I, great, let us know and we'll move aside . . . but if not, shut up . . . shut up . . . .we have to stop this nonsense,” said a seemingly fuming Tañón as she looked straight at the camera while struggling to hold back tears.
“It's been really hard for Juanes and I to ward off all the attacks we have received lately, but with due respect to the Cuban exiles in Miami, we made history with what I always had faith in . . . .but I was born for something in my life, not to fight against the world,” she added.
Sunday's second installment of the Colombian rocker's “Peace Without Borders” series drew an estimated 1.1 million concertgoers, according to organizers. The first show in March 2008 drew tens of thousands to the border between Venezuela and Colombia.
Juanes' mega-concert was the biggest visit by a foreigner since Pope John Paul II's 1998 tour.
When he announced his plan to hold the event in Cuba this year, the 17-time Latin Grammy winner — who's known for his social activism — said the show would be dedicated to peace and music, and that there wouldn't be any type of political overtone.
Some angered Cuban exiles in Miami didn't buy it, though, and blasted Juanes and 15 other international music stars — including the Puerto Ricans Danny Rivera and Tañón — for simply staging the show in Cuba, arguing that by going there alone they were all supporting Fidel Castro's Communist regime. Other irked Miami-based groups even called for a boycott of Juanes' music, sent him death threats on his Twitter page and held CD-smashing protests that coincided with Sunday's concert.
Tañón, who visited Cuba for the first time for the event, also told the TV show's host that she joined Juanes' peace initiative to support him and the Cuban people.
“I don't live in Cuba . . . I know that there must be happening a thousand things in Cuba, but what we said that would happen, it did. All the artists there, with whom I do not share their political views, 'smoked' the peace pipe together that day for the good of the Cuban people and to give them a chance to see something they hadn't seen before,” stated the two-time Grammy and five-time Latin Grammy winner.
“If Juanes, Miguel and I had to do it all over again to be able to see each one of the countless happy faces that we saw in Cuba that day [Sunday] — if only to bring them joy — we would so someone does something to bring change to Cuba . . . I have a daughter with an illness . . . ., even if it is that God helps us to lift the US blockade on medicines to Cuba . . . then we would be doing a miracle,” she added.
As a devout Christian, Tañón also told Valdés that she has faith in God and that she believes in miracles.
“I have faith that my daughter will eventually be cured by a miracle, but I also have faith that wonderful things are going to happen in Cuba,” added Tañón, whose teenage daughter Gabriela, 13, was diagnosed when she was a child with Sebastian Syndrome, an extremely rare genetic bleeding disorder.
“When we were leaving the neighboring island, many Cubans told us: 'Listen, what we want is that the same people that left Cuba don't throw us rocks . . . tell those in Miami to help us because it doesn't affect the government, it affects the Cuban people,” she stated.
According to Tañón's local publicist, the artist's daughter is currently undergoing a series of medical tests to determine whether she has Sebastian Syndrome or another rare illness.
Tañón also told the audience that she's a firm believer that something big and 'wonderful' will happen in Cuba soon.
And she thinks Juanes' peace concert is the sparkle of Cuba's burning fire of change.
“If we achieved that Cuba allowed us to hold the concert there, and if we achieved that I, being the only American to have gone there and the president allowed me as an American to be there is because something wonderful will happen . . . .something good has to happen,” she opined.
“I think Cuba is ready — with all due respect to all opinions, and this is my personal viewpoint — for the world and the world is ready for Cuba,” she declared.
Tañón also told viewers that the artists who took part in the concert honored the nonpolitical overtone clause promised from the beginning by Juanes.
“I take my hat off to all who were there, because nobody dedicated anything to anyone — and we had the chance to do it — nobody accused anyone of anything — and we had the chance to do it — and the goal we had was respected: which was, yes, respect does exist . . . respect does exist, what it needs to be done is to follow it and never give up fighting for it,” she said.
“I wrote the opening song of my set [ 'Es mentiroso ese hombre'] 16 years ago. . . nothing was dedicated in honor of anything, much less to Fidel Castro . . . and we had a chance to get out of context, and we didn't. . . respect does exist,” she added, referring to a question asked by a reporter at the Miami airport when she arrived on Sunday.
The reporter asked Tañón whether she was thinking about Fidel Castro when she sang her hit song, which literally means 'that man is a liar,' during the concert on Sunday.
“When she asked me I immediately thought that it was disrespectful,” she explained. “In the end, I was calm during my set and I didn't dedicate any of the songs to a specific figure.”
Although Juanes promised that his concert was about music and the Cuban people — and not politics, clearly there were several moments during the show marked by political and social commentaries.
During the start of his set, Spanish pop singer Miguel Bosé repeatedly said “conflicts are no good,” while Rivera, who's also known for his social activism, said “peace is the sensation of a sublime moment after fighting for the justice of a people and for those who want peace and freedom.”
And Juanes capped off the night with “que viva Cuba libre,” or free Cuba.
For Tañón, having gone to perform in Cuba was a life-changing experience.
“What we did, we did it with our hearts . . . we didn't receive anything. But I can tell you that having gone to your [Valdés] country has changed my life forever,” she said.
“And that's why I think it's time to change. But we must learn to delete the corroded parts in our hearts. I can only hope that with this concert we opened new roads and painted a brighter future for Cuba.”
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