Ismael González Almeida, 32 years old and from Ciego de Ávila, was the guitarist and tres player of Familia Son, a group founded by his father and made up of several relatives.
Cuban musician Ismael González Almeida, guitarist and tres player of the group Familia Son, died from gunshots received in a shootout in Cancun, Mexico, on Monday night.
The tragic event occurred outside a venue where the musical group had performed, when armed individuals traveling in a van opened fire on the place. Several shots hit the young musician, causing his death, according to preliminary reports on social media.
González, 32 years old and a native of Ciego de Ávila, was a member of the family group founded by his father, saxophonist Ismael González Román, and which also includes his stepmother Neysuk Mateo Ferrer and his brothers Yisel, Legna Helen and Carlos César, all professional musicians.
The young man had emigrated with his relatives to Mexico, and resided in the state of Quintana Roo, where Familia Son performed in several nightclubs.
At the time of publishing this note, the motives for the attack that, unfortunately, ended the life of the young Cuban musician and has devastated his family have not been revealed.
The father expressed his eternal love for his son in a message shared on Facebook: “We love you, my son, forever,” accompanied by the image of a guitar, the instrument that González played.
On behalf of FamiliaSon, Mateo conveyed a moving message to the group’s friends, relatives and audience: “With a broken heart, we wanted to thank each of the family members, friends, acquaintances and followers who have shown their affection and respect for our beloved Ismaelito. In the midst of so much pain, we are proud to know that he sowed love and left his mark on many people, with his joy and his songs, and that is precisely what we want to remain in the minds of everyone who knew him.”
Regarding the crime that ended the life of his loved one, Mateo said that “it was just a very unfortunate and unexpected event, one of the thousands and millions of casual events that happen in this turbulent world, and it happened to us sadly,” while he assured: “We will never let his guitar and his tres remain silent…”.
“We love you son, may God keep you in the book of life. It will never be the same without you, the best and most beloved tres player of Familia Son, but you are here forever,” were the emotional words with which he ended the message directed to González.
Thousands of messages of condolence have been written by family members, friends, acquaintances and followers of the musician from Ciego de Ávila, in social media posts, lamenting his premature death.
The family also reported that they have received support from the company Musicavila, from Ciego de Ávila, the Institute of Music, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Cuban Embassy in Mexico, to carry out “all the pertinent procedures involved in a process like this.”
They also stressed that the group has not asked for monetary help on any digital platform for the repatriation of González’s ashes to Cuba, and that all the support received has been “direct and spontaneous.”
In a statement published this Wednesday on its official Facebook profile, the Cuban embassy reported that, together with the Ministry of Culture and the Consulate in Cancún, “they remain in communication with the relatives of the member of the musical group ‘Familia Son’, who died in Cancún.”
“We are carrying out the consular procedures to comply with the family’s wish to transfer his ashes to Cuba,” the note concluded.
Source: cibercuba
