By José Gandue @Gandour
Suddenly, we find some key figures in the Bogota rock scene pretending to be politically correct, demanding that Paul Gillman, a 57-year-old man, a well-known Venezuelan heavy metal singer, He was excluded from the Rock al Parque festival lineup because of his affiliation with Chavista ideology. There are many who are tearing their hair out and demanding the removal of this artist, as if Rock al Parque were the ideal field for this type of political confrontation and the instrument of censorship of what seems to us to be misguided in ideological matters.
Personally, I don't like Gillman's music; it bores me. (pay attention to the verb I choose to describe what I think) his acts of proselytizing and I differ from some, if not most, of his thoughts. Does that give me the right to pursue him and expose him as a criminal? The organizers of Rock al Parque have decided to invite him to their 2017 edition, responding to the requests of many of his fans in Bogotá. Furthermore, whether we like it or not, he is a popular musician from a country with which the festival has had inconsistent relations and which deserves a greater presence at the event. Similarly, And if we use the same type of weeds in reverse, People on the other side of the street might have complained about the presence last year in the park of Caramelos de Cianuro, a band clearly linked to opponents of the Caracas government regime. And along those lines, I didn't see any of these people who are demanding Gillman's punishment and exclusion complaining about Manu Chao's presence at the festival or Calle 13 at events programmed by the previous mayoral administration, knowing that they had a favorable relationship with Hugo Chávez at the time. There are many examples like these throughout the history of the event., And it was healthy to see them on stage, delivering their speeches, regardless of whether we liked it or not. The various curatorial approaches the festival has had throughout its history have adhered to the principle of ideological tolerance towards the participating musicians, only prudently avoiding having exponents of racist or xenophobic and violent extremism on stage, and this one, definitely, That is not the case.
I believe there is more than political outrage in the complaints of the people who are trying (and apparently succeeding) to get Gillman out of Rock al Parque 2017. That's not their motive, we know.. But we're not going to speculate about that. The most dangerous thing about all this is that if the Mayor's office does indeed back down from its invitation, it will give anyone grounds to demand an ideological examination of all the festival participants., driving a ludicrous witch hunt, falling into a kind of fascism with which Rock al Parque was never associated. We cannot continue to be this irresponsible.
The solution is simple: If Gillman's presence is confirmed and you don't like it, don't watch it. There are two other stages at the festival for that purpose. But don't let your censorious torch get in the way. in an event that has always behaved in a way that favors coexistence with diversity.
Faced with pressure from these individuals, Idartes decided to disinvite Gillman. A grave error. Intolerance prevailed.
