Accordionist and singer Fefita La Grande has reported that police officers interrupted her performance at the Campo Verde business in Mata de Jobo, Santiago Rodríguez, where businessmen, politicians, and the mayor of Sabaneta, Félix Alberto Marte Bueno, were present. The merenguera, whose real name is Manuela Josefa Cabrera Taveras, said that the police arrived in four vehicles and two motorcycles with firearms at 12:35 AM when her show had just begun. They allowed her to play only three songs and read a recognition that they had given her, which she described as a “petty act” and “the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my 57-year career.”
Fefita expressed her powerlessness and grief in a video posted on her Instagram account, stating that she was hurt by the incident, especially as it occurred in her hometown, where she was born and raised. She said that she has always received affection and respect from the entire country, including various presidents of the Republic and authorities from all the governments that have visited her residence, bestowed her with numerous awards and accolades, and granted her the highest awards of the Sovereign and the key to the city of Providence.
The Grand Sovereign winner of 2016 expressed her surprise at the event, given her name and international reputation, which has earned her respect and admiration worldwide. Fefita said that no such act of disrespect had ever been committed against her anywhere in the world, and she felt powerless and helpless. She demanded respect, saying that it was she who had been wronged and not the other way around. Finally, she pointed out that the person responsible for the sabotage was someone “unpopular” in her town.