Pitbull made an impassioned plea to billionaire Jeff Bezos to help with the ongoing situation in Cuba.
Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in decades, along with a resurgence of coronavirus cases, as it suffers the consequences of U.S. sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. Some protesters have demanded a change in the Communist government with demonstrations turning violent in some areas as food and other shortages threaten people’s way of life.
On Wednesday, the star released a two-minute video on his Instagram in which he called on the world to recognize that the Cuban people are currently fighting for their freedom but noted that they need international help.
“This is a message to the world. We need to stand up, step up, but if you don’t understand what’s going on, then you need to wake the f— up,” the musician said. “Not only is this a Cuba event, a Cuba thing, this is a world event. This isn’t about politics, this is about saving lives. This is about unity, not division. And the bottom line is this is about taking action.”
The star explained that he hopes to use his platform to raise awareness of the situation, but gets frustrated that he can’t create tangible change and aid that the likes of the world’s billionaires like Bezos can.
“It gets me hot, it bothers me and it frustrates me to a certain extent, being a Cuban American and having a platform to speak to the world and not being able to help my own people,” he says. “Not being able to get them food, not being able to get them water, not being able to get them medicine, but most of all not being able to help and get them what they deserve, which is freedom.”
With that, Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Christian Pérez, called on the world’s business leaders to step up and do something, specifically naming Bezos.
“All world allies get together to help. Global businesses get together to help,” he said. “People that we’re so proud of, such as Jeff Bezos — Cuban-American — graduated from a high school in Miami, built one of the biggest companies in the world, the richest man in the world. He’s somebody that can get involved and really help us.”
Unfortunately, Pitbull’s plea may be falling on deaf ears as the Amazon billionaire’s attention seems to be elsewhere.
Jeff Bezos and girlfriend Lauren Sanchez visit Nobu in Malibu. (BENS / NGRE / BACKGRID)
While Pitbull was begging for aid to the Cuban people, who are taking to the streets to fight for their freedom, Bezos was snapped with his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, and his family at the swanky Malibu restaurant Nobu. The couple and his family sat down to enjoy some of the restaurant’s Japanese cuisine ahead of his other top priority of the moment, his upcoming space flight.
The billionaire announced in June that he will travel to space in July on his company Blue Origin’s first passenger flight. Bezos will be joined by his brother, Mark, and an auction winner on the flight scheduled for July 20. They will fill three of the six seats on New Shepard’s first crewed suborbital flight, traveling to an altitude of more than 340,000 feet.
However, The Atlantic notes that Bezos and other billionaires such as Richard Branson and Elon Musk, who each have their attention firmly on space at the moment as well, are facing criticism for abandoning problems they could help with here on Earth. The situation in Cuba and Pitbull’s plea are a shining example of the impact of that criticism.
