of the audience. We wanted to promote fun with responsibility and with respect for diversity and individuality. We wanted to encourage a culture of care of the ecosystem by placing garbage bins on the beach— marked for organic and recyclable stuff— and educating the public, all young people, about social welfare. We wanted to negotiate with the government how to install public toilets, to provide better food and to improve transportation. We even dream about setting up a stage at sea. Some plans were executed, others not, and certainly carrying out others would be very difficult, but who can guess if they would have materialized after all. On the contrary, what did the official institutions bring out? Bad organization, bad design, bad performance. They couldn ´ t meet the youth expectations. They told us that our project was not governmental and the festival was being running with funds of dubious origin. Some other improbable excuses were given. It is worth emphasizing that we were doing everything with approval by the Provincial Government and the rest of the relevant authorities. How to hide such an event? But in a snap of fingers, Rotilla Festival ceased to belong to us. It would be organized by specialists, by cadres, by men and women with no sense of belonging, no good intentions, no taste for alternative culture, no love for young people, no interest, no goals. MatraKa Productions called a press conference. Only a few foreign media came. This time, the conference was controlled by the State Security from the lowest floor of the head office building. We signed a complaint in which we canceled our event and we required both a response and fulfilling what was promised. In addition, we announced that our demand was based on identity theft by the Cuban government. We just run through the facts, the vulgar way in which they informed us that the festival would be organized by official institutions. We requested online support and made documentaries. 3 There was neither response nor respect. They failed to comply with their pledged word. They only forcibly complied with their own terms. Divide and conquer. It was sad and frustrating to see artists who badly judged us and turned their backs, who joined the new proposal even though we were the only ones who, out of a basic sense of respect and in search of reciprocity, gave them detailed explanations. We tried to justify their attitudes by broaching the lack of funding, because now they would be paid for their performances, but principles are priceless. We tried to justify their vulnerability with the thirst for fame and public, and the need to have their ego fed, but the sense of shame requires spirit of sacrifice. Many of those who previously asked for a space in Rotilla and started their careers there, as well as in other events organized by MTK, attended the fake festival and even spoke in front of the cameras on national TV, as if that plagiarism would have been the best idea drawn up by the Ministry of Culture( MINCULT) for the youth in the summer. Others were deceived and thought they were attending a famous festival. They did not know us, and they thanked Rotilla on the fraudulent scene. We do not hold a grudge. It’ s is called deception. I thank the loyal audiences and artists who responded. I wish they have done very well in their careers. We continued to support them as we could. For them, we continued working on other impact events and large audiences that no longer exist. Nobody filled these cultural gaps. Electronic music— with more luck and less social commitment— has occasionally gained some ground for projects that strive to remain, I think by overcoming setbacks with gasping breaths. Hip hop and other art
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