Cuban Punk Rocker Gorki Aguila on Music, Life and Getting Led Zeppelin Records in Cuba

Gorki Águila is blunt in his assessment of Fidel Castro's half century of revolution: "Communism is a failure. A total failure. Please, leftists of the world-improve your capitalism! Don't choose communism!" Águila, a Havana resident, wears homemade anti-government t-shirts, frequently denounces the Castro brothers as geriatric tyrants, and heads up perhaps Cuba's only explicitly political punk band, Porno Para Ricardo. And because of his stubborn belief in free speech, he is routinely arrested on charges of "social dangerousness." Tired of his anti-regime music, Cuban authorities made the rare decision to grantt Águila a visa to travel abroad, perhaps hoping that he wouldn't return

In September, Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan caught up with Águila on the Washington, D.C. leg of his American promotional tour to talk about his music, the origins of Porno Para Ricardo, and how long it takes to get Led Zeppelin records in a totalitarian society.

For downloadable versions please visit www.reason.tv.

Approximately 7 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg. Edited by Dan Hayes.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• gorki aguila
• porno para ricardo
• cuba
• cuban
• punk
• rock
• rebelion
• fidel
• raul
• castro
• reason.tv
• reasontv
• michael c. moynihan
• reason magazine

[davidmesaaz]

I think this should be required viewing for every Rocker that dares to wear a Che Guevara T-Shirt

[LogSNES]

This guy is awesome:)

[lennoxido]

@davidmesaaz yeah! let's wear more ronald reagan shirts!

[lennoxido]

Le doy 2 años en miami pa q se le ponga el culo ancho, a ver si le parece muy pro punk y muy libre el publico miamense

[luizdamorte]

Não quer vir ao Brasil para organizarmos algum show?

Meu e-mail para contato é ll.mattos@bol.com.br

[ViajanteB4]

"POR CONDUCTA PRE-DELICTIVA"..... ke tale conchsss....

[davidmesaaz]

@kuba2ve If you think that I was defending the Cuban government your mistaken... Its been awhile but I think that I was commenting on the WHO statistics from Michael Moores SICKO... I don't trust the statistics i was pointing out the error in the statistics that the Cuban government is the only organization that gets information about the Cuban health care system.

[davidmesaaz]

@kuba2ve If you think that I was defending the Cuban government your mistaken... Its been awhile but I think that I was commenting on the WHO statistics from Michael Moores SICKO... I don't trust the statistics i was pointing out the error in the statistics that the Cuban government is the only organization that gets information about the Cuban health care system.

[kuba2ve]

@davidmesaaz And you trust the statistics from the WHO, really? Who gives those statistics to the WHO, the Cuban government??? LOL!!!! You need to go to Cuba, I was there recently, you should see the hospitals for the Cubans, the lack of standards of sanity, roaches, no water in the main quirurgic salon, bad smell, equipment with lifecycle expired in 1st world countries are the ones they use for the Cubans... you should see that my friend!!!

[jeanmarcARG]

Ramones was my favourite band when I was a Kinder.

PPR sounds great too.

Me gusta mucho como suenan.

[sexykatie90]

ReasonTV my msn in profile! Cuban Punk Rocker Gorki Aguila on Music, Life and Getting Led Zeppelin Records in Cuba

[TruthAxe]

The ever amusing @elgrano. What a piece of work you are.

First, exposed for being an idea thief and then exposed for being caught in a lie. Now, you're making excuses merely.

Quickly, run to a mirror and face truth. See that big backward L on your forehead as the true you stares back at yourself.