Miami's Spanish language El Nuevo Herald newspaper published an interview on Sunday with the 68-year-old two-time Grammy award winner, whose melodic and evocative ballads are well known in Latin America and internationally. Milanes' planned Aug. 27 concert in Miami, a bastion of anti-communist Cuban exiles in the United States, has touched off a storm of discord between those who criticize him as a stooge of the communist government in Havana and many fans and supporters who defend his right to perform in Miami.

Milanes, a privileged celebrity in Cuba where authorities allow him to travel and perform widely outside the island, said his Miami concert sought "peace and love" and he wanted to "hold out a hand to those who extend their hand to me." "I'm not going to criticize anyone and I don't want to be criticized. I simply want to be heard as a man who sings his songs," he told El Nuevo Herald.