Havana pays warm tribute to Rosa Fornes, "the Cuban Marylin Monroe"

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Text by: Domitille Piron

The Cuban star died last Wednesday at the age of 97 in Miami. Sometimes nicknamed "the Cuban Marylin Monroe" and official artist of the Revolution, the Cubans did not hold it against Rosa Fornes from her exile last year to Florida and paid her a warm but distant tribute, given the circumstances of the coronavirus epidemic.

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From our correspondent in Havana,

For Cubans Rosa Fornes it was above all "  una gran bédéte  ", "  the big star  " of Cuba. Yet she was born in New York to Spanish parents, a complete artist of the big screen, to the theater and dance scene via Progresso radio where Mercedes Alvares attended her: “  Rosita will remain immortal. She has illustrated herself in various artistic genres  : lyric art, zarzuela, popular song, mambo, rumba. Like her there will be no other.  "

Such complete artists, Cuba no longer produces them. The young dancer Andres Cabrera came to pay homage to her at the Marti theater where her body rested for the last time to say goodbye to the public and where she played so much. “  It is a pride of cubanity and an example of humility. One day I met her and I hugged her, she hugged me a lot harder than I hugged her, it was very moving. "

Official artist of the Revolution, Rosita Fornes was able to achieve unanimity among Cubans here and in exile. The diva was also greatly admired by the gay and transsexual community, of which Hector, who does not give his name, is a part.

"  At the time when it was more complicated for us, she had no preference, she accepted all of her audience,  " explains Hector before being interrupted by a man who wants to enforce safety distances.

Despite the epidemic, the Cubans came by the hundreds, masked and without public transport, to pay a last tribute to the star of the stars.

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