The death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has cast a long shadow over Art Basel Miami Beach.
Actor Andy Garcia, a Miami resident, expressed his “deep sorrow” for the Cuban people who lived under Castro’s rule, in a message sent out over social media.
Garcia, who was born in Havana, Cuba, and went on to star in films including “The Godfather Part III,” wrote: “It is necessary for me to express the deep sorrow that I feel for all the Cuban people both inside and outside of Cuba that have suffered the atrocities and repression caused by Fidel Castro and his totalitarian regime.
“The promises of his so-called revolution of pluralism and democracy, were and continue to be a false promise and a betrayal of all basic human rights.
“The executions, persecution and imprisonment of political dissidents and the LGBT community, denial of free press, elections and religious freedoms, continue to be his legacy. He claimed that history would absolve him, but it can also condemn him.”
Meanwhile, anti-Castro street artist Danilo Maldonado Machado, known as El Sexto, who was due to attend the Miami art fairs, was reportedly arrested on Saturday in Havana.
The artist — who was arrested and jailed without a trial in December 2014 for “disrespect of the leaders of the revolution,” and again in March 2016 — called the Miami New Times to announce his impending arrest as he was reporting live from Havana on Saturday, describing the quiet in the streets following Castro’s death.
“La seguridad del estado is outside my door; they are going to arrest me,” Maldonado told the Miami New Times over the phone as state security made its way into his apartment. He reportedly was beaten, dragged out of his home and brought to a police station. There have been no official charges released. He reportedly was moved to Villa Marista, a prison known to hold political prisoners, on Saturday evening.
El Sexto had been attempting to exit Cuba for Miami’s art fairs this week, according to Artnet News. The artist had been cleared to travel, but he was “marked” at the airport and not allowed to leave the country.
Denmark’s Gallery Agerled will exhibit his paintings at the Art Concept Miami fair. El Sexto’s work is also featured in “La Libertad Artística,” a group show in Miami featuring work by 13 Cuban artists, and he was scheduled to perform on Saturday. Also, a documentary about the artist produced by Julian Schnabel has premiered on HBO, titled, “Patria O Muerte: Cuba, Fatherland, or Death.”
