Cuba Bans Reggaeton And Other 'Vulgar' Music From TV And Radio Stations

Reggaeton Will Be Forbidden In Cuba
HAVANA, CUBA: TO GO WITH AFP STORY Cuban reggaeton dance instructor Laura Dellano (L) shows to her Swiss student Laura Ameti the basic dance steps during a class at the SprachCaffe 04 February, 2007 in Havana. A blend of reggae and rap rhythms, the reggaeton is very popular in Cuba. AFP PHOTO/ADALBERTO ROQUE (Photo credit should read ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images)
HAVANA, CUBA: TO GO WITH AFP STORY Cuban reggaeton dance instructor Laura Dellano (L) shows to her Swiss student Laura Ameti the basic dance steps during a class at the SprachCaffe 04 February, 2007 in Havana. A blend of reggae and rap rhythms, the reggaeton is very popular in Cuba. AFP PHOTO/ADALBERTO ROQUE (Photo credit should read ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images)

All music with "aggressive lyrics," or that is "sexually explicit, obscene, or misrepresents the inherent sensuality of Cuban women" will be banned from the Cuban media, according to new guidelines from the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM).In an interview with Granma newspaper, Orlando Vistel, chairman of ICM, the official organ of the Communist Party, said the agency and its institutions have taken steps that "go from the disqualification of those who violate professional ethics in their presentations, to the imposition of severe sanctions from those institutions that encourage or allow such practices."

"It is not only about reggaeton. Vulgar, banal and mediocre expressions that are recorded in other musical practices. We should not particularize in a genre. But the fact remains that reggaeton is much more noticeable,” said the Communist leader when asked specifically about whether this was limited to reggaeton music, popular in the Caribbean island.

With these new policies the island’s government seeks to ensure the public that it will enter into a "process of depuration of the art catalogs from our entities, which aims to eradicate any practice that contains substance that distances from the legitimacy of Cuban popular culture."

He assured that both Cuban radio and television, "will be just a representative presence of the best of the catalogs of our institutions."

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