HOPE & GLORIA

SINGER GLORIA ESTEFAN TELLS CASEY COOPER-FISKE ABOUT HER NEW ALBUM AND HOW SHE NO LONGER RECOGNISES THE USA UNDER DONALD TRUMP

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Gloria, 67, says: “People have really felt what we felt making the album, which is immense pride in our culture, in our sound, in our language. I think it's an important moment in the United States to show that pride and to show the fact that our culture will be strong in us, and will continue to be.

“It's kind of scary for me, some of the things I’m seeing happening here. It’s absolutely important [to increase visibility of Spanish-speaking communities].”

Gloria says while it’s not the reason her and husband Emilio (who wrote the album’s songs) created the album, which they have been working on for two years, she reveals: “We talked about the fact we needed to do this at this time, more than ever, because we're proud of who we are.

“The immigrants in this country have come to make the country better and the recent immigrants, they do the jobs that nobody wants to do, they help put food on our table. They pay taxes any time they buy anything and they don’t reap the benefits of anything, and they're being villainised for no reason, for political gain, and fear-mongering.

Gloria recalls being on a flight from Las Vegas and not being allowed to disembark until a mother and baby had been removed from the plane.