The Guardian
Colombian singer Juanes receives death threats over Cuba peace concert
Aug 25--Critics say Havana show endorses official propaganda as it features local acts closely associated with the Castros' rule
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It has been billed as a "concert for peace" in Cuba, but political passions have unleashed death threats, protests and insults against the rock star organiser of an event that will bring together some of the biggest names in Latin American music.
Militant Cuban exiles have accused Juanes, a Colombian singer and one of Latin America's biggest stars, of succouring the island's communist government with a concert next month in the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana.
Protestors in Florida smashed CDs, burned T-shirts and sent angry messages to his Twitter account, including warnings he was hated and "will die", prompting police to step up vigilance near the singer's Key Biscayne home in Miami.
Juanes, 37, has recruited top Latino acts to perform with him at the 20 September Peace Without Borders show, including Puerto Rico's Olga Tañon, Spain's Miguel Bosé and Cuba's Silvio Rodríguez and the band Los Van Van.
The Grammy-award winning artist, whose real name is Juan Esteban Aristizábal, said the event was intended to set aside ideological differences and "knock down our own mental walls". He organised a peace-themed concert on Colombia's border with Venezuela during last year's tension between the two governments.
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