Many years ago, when I was a cub reporter and aspiring journalist in Miami, I was asked to produce a new Spanish-language program for a young up-and-coming musical star named Willy Chirino. The show was called Love Van and it was supposed to be a hipper version of American Bandstand and Soul Train, but unfortunately, it never caught on.
Cubans worldwide have been waiting for years until the Communist Castro regime collapses, and have been singing about it.
Fast forward many years later, I was recruited by the White House to help launch TV Marti named after Cuban patriot Jose Marti. By that time Willy had become a star and recorded the Cuban exile version of the new national anthem.
I have been living in the United States for many years and every time I listen to his songs, tears come to my eyes because the Castro-Communist dictatorship has not ended. Every time I see the faces of Cubans crying while #WillieChirino sings to them my heart breaks. Down with tyranny, long live Cuba, long live Jose Marti, for the full dignity of man LONG LIVE CUBA LIBRE.
Now, a new anti-Communist anthem featuring Gente de Zona has gone viral and sparking Castro and state fury once again.