December 29, 2009 - Cuba's Grammy-winning band Los Van Van will end a long absence from the United States with a Jan. 28 concert in Key West, FL, according to a Reuters report. The innovative salsa band will be welcomed to the country under new, relaxed Visa restrictions that are the result of a quiet resumption of Cuban cultural exchanges under the current US presidential administration.
March 22, 2000 - update: The promoter of a 1999 Miami concert by the popular Cuban dance band Los Van Van has filed a civil rights suit alleging that the city and Miami-Dade County officials infringed on her free speech by billing her for extra security at the show. The band's October appearance at Miami Arena sparked a heated battle between a large faction of anti-Castro protestors in the city and those who supported the band's freedom of expression.
October 21, 1999 - Fearing for their safety, a band featuring members of the Cuban all-star group Buena Vista Social Club has called off a planned February performance in Miami Beach. The cancellation comes in the wake of the hostile greeting received in Miami by fellow countrymen Los Van Van earlier this month.
October 10, 1999 - About 50 Miami police officers donned riot gear on Saturday night (10/9) to quell demonstrators at a concert by Cuban dance band Los Van Van. According to local news reports, police said nearly 4,000 people gathered outside Miami Arena to protest the first-ever Miami appearance by the band, which some right-wing Cuban exiles have dubbed President Fidel Castro's "official band."
September 27, 1999 - A Los Van Van concert has been moved to Miami Arena after representatives of the Cuban band and Miami's James L. Knight Center -- which was tentatively scheduled to host the show -- were unable to reach agreement on liability insurance issues.
September 19, 1999 - A tentative deal struck between representatives of Cuban dance band Los Van Van, the American Civil Liberties Union, and management at a city-owned Miami concert venue will allow the band to play in Miami on Oct. 11. The concert was originally set for another date, but was canceled under pressure from city officials and anti-Castro activists.
September 14, 1999 - A group that represents veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion has booked Miami's James L. Knight Center to show an anti-Castro movie on Oct. 9, the day that Cuban dance band Los Van Van had been booked to play.
