SILVIO RODRIGUEZ: 'OPEN WOUNDS' REMAIN BETWEEN CUBA AND U.S.

The Cuban singer-songwriter warned that the actions of each country from now on will dictate whether the wounds will heal.

Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez, who formed part of Latin America’s socially conscious Nueva trova songwriting movement in the 1960s, said on Monday that “open wounds” remain between the United States and Cuba, despite the reopening of embassies,    

On his blog, Segundacita, the prolific musician, who has released more than 20 albums, warned that what both countries do now “will open or close those cuts.”        

“The reconciliation steps between the two nations put us before a new scene, and also, history cannot be deleted,” Rodriguez wrote of the recent opening of the U.S. Embassy in the Cuban capital, Havana, by Secretary of State, John Kerry.    

“To listen to John Kerry say that we are no longer rivals, or enemies, but simply neighbors, is incredible,” he added.    

Kerry led the ceremony of the raising of the flag in the U.S. Embassy in Havana, and his speech was broadcast live by Cuban television, as well as teleSUR. The event came after U.S. President, Barack Obama, and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, announced in December an unfreezing of diplomatic relations that had deteriorated over half a century ago.    

“We still bleed from some open wounds that require stitches and treatments. All that we do in the future will open or close those cuts. All that we say will provoke pain or relief,” he said.    

While the situation has dramatically relaxed between the two nations, Cubans are still calling for the lifting of the illegal blockade on the Caribbean island, and the return of Guantanamo military prison.        

“I was a man of peace; one of those who wanted to be more than neighbors, but to be friends. But being just a child, I had to learn to use arms to defend myself from their policies and their armies,” Rodriguez said, referring to the U.S.    

Rodriguez was one of the guests invited by Havana to the opening of the Cuban Embassy in Washington in July, the day of the formal reestablishment of diplomatic relations.    

In 2010, the 68-year-old played his first concert in the U.S. since 1980, to rapturous reception.