CRAG Report: The Missing Cuban Musicians
This 34 page report reviews the history of the current blanket ban the U.S. government has put on any Cuban musicians coming to the U.S.
From AfroCubaWeb:

"Entrance into the United States by Cuban musicians, artists and academicians has been extremely limited since November of 2003. No Cuban bands have been admitted since that time, and even Cubans resident in third countries have been refused entry. Instead, according to the report of the "Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba" chaired by Colin Powell, cultural exchange between the U.S. and Cuba is to be aggressively pursued "during and after transition," meaning a change in the government of Cuba to one deemed more acceptable to the Bush Adminstration.

The Cuba Research & Analysis Group announces the release of the report "The Missing Cubans," authored by music producer, musicologist and author Ned Sublette, with additional contributions from attorney William Martínez. Sublette documents the historical relationship of Cuban music to the U.S., earlier efforts to bring Cuban music acts to the U.S. during the 1970s and 80s, and the acceptance of Cuban musicians by wide audiences throughout the 1990s.
A list of policy recommendations is included at the end of the report. Additionally, William Martínez puts in print for the first time a thorough set of guidelines for what has been the normal process of obtaining visas for Cuban musicians, artists and others."

The report may be downloaded at the AfroCuba Web site, at
http://www.afrocubaweb.com/missingcubanmusicians.htm.

For further information, contact:
Louis Head
Cuba Research & Analysis Group
P.O. Box 6510
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87197-6510
USA/EEUU
(505) 344-5049

Ned Sublette of New York City is a 2003-2004 fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, and a 2004-2005 Tulane Rockefeller Humanities Fellow. He is author of Cuba and its Music: from the First Drums to the Mambo (Chicago Review Press), and co-founder of the Qbadisc record label. He has led frequent music and culture seminars for North Americans to Cuba, is the producer of the 18 part Cuba Connection series on PRI's Afropop Worldwide and is co-creator of the current APWW "Hip Deep" series. He may be reached at .

Bill Martínez of San Francisco is an immigration attorney who has also produced and managed cultural events in the Bay Area since 1973. He is a co-founder of Latino Entertainment Partners which produced historically significant concerts of Cuban artists. In 1981 he co-founded the Encuentro del Canto Popular music festival in San Francisco. His work with the Encuentro lead him to become one of the nation's leading experts in U.S.-Cuba cultural exchanges and artists' visas. He may be reached at .