Cuba won't block artists to Latin Grammys in L.A.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Havana said Friday it would allow Cuban musicians nominated for Latin Grammy awards to travel to the ceremony in Los Angeles Sept. 11. "Cuba never put up obstacles to stop nominated artists on the island from participating in the Latin Grammys," the state-run Music Institute's vice-president, Rebeca Viera, said in comments carried by official news agency Prensa Latina.

Her remarks were a response to some U.S. media reports that Cuba, which controls departure of its citizens as well as entry of foreigners to the communist-run Caribbean island, may not allow some of its stars to travel to the awards' ceremony.

Cuban nominees include internationally known artists like salsa star Isaac Delgado, jazz pianist Chucho Valdes and singers Omara Portuondo and Celina Gonzalez.

Viera said their ability to travel to Los Angeles now depended on the U.S. government's granting of entry visas. Requests had been handed in at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana "without any response up to now," she said. No comment was immediately available from the U.S. office.

The Latin Grammys were to have been held in Miami, but organizers decided last week to switch them to Los Angeles over fears of anti-communist protests from fiercely anti-Castro Cuban American groups based in Florida.
"The show they put on in Miami has nothing to do with culture," Viera said of the anti-Castro groups, whom Havana routinely refers to as a "terrorist mafia."