Cubans find anger in their souls

There’s a man from the government playing love songs in the park. Orlando Fuentes has a table and an awning against the hard Caribbean sun. Silvio Rodríguez’s Cita con Ángeles floats from his sound system. A woman says she can’t listen, that it’s a beautiful song ruined by being played at too many government rallies.

After 16 months of Covid and a week of unprecedented protests, the Cuban government wants to soothe the anger. Music is being played in parks across the country.

“I call for solidarity and not to let hatred take over the Cuban soul, which is a soul of goodness, affection and love,” tweeted President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Only days earlier he had called his supporters on