Aug. 13, 2006 — Grammy Award-winner Jon Secada was a boy when his family fled Cuba, and he's been back just once — to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. But Secada dreams of singing in a free Cuba. He has a message for Fidel Castro, who turns 80 today.
Jon Secada: If I were to tell Castro anything right now on his birthday, [it] is to reflect, try to look at his conscience and allow Cuba to change. I think it's time for Cuba and for Cubans to really have the freedom to decide and choose what they want.
I remember when I left Cuba, I remember kind of seeing my family. You know, just … saying goodbye — even though as a little kid, I understood that I might not come back.
Going to Guantanamo, it kind of just— I guess it summed up all those things that deal with the fact that I was kind of going back to Cuba, thinking that I would never go back.
I hope that very, very soon, I can come back, and that I'm able to also take my parents back, my father in particular, because he went through a lot to get out and to be able to sing in a free Cuba. And I would sing, my God, everything.
The day Castro dies, I think Cubans should — and we think that Cubans would want to — evolve, look at the history of what has happened, turn the page, allow changes. Careful changes, of course, but changes that the island deserves and needs.
Cuba needs help. And I think that if the world kind of looks, you know, takes a good look in there, I think that they would see it's time for Cuba to change.
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