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June 12 2003 By Simon Romero  Manuel is known for his
provocative lyrics.  One of Cuba's leading pop stars, Carlos
Manuel, defected to the US over the weekend and was released on
Tuesday by immigration authorities in Texas.  Manuel, 30,
decided to defect last week after performing in Mexico City with
his band, Carlos Manuel and His Clan. He walked over the bridge
connecting the Mexican border city of Matamoros with
Brownsville, Texas.  Five in his entourage - his mother, his
sister, his sister's boyfriend, his cousin, who is a
percussionist in his band, and a sound engineer - also defected.
In a telephone interview, Manuel said he had chosen to defect
after the Cuban Government's recent crackdown on dissidents.
This included the arrest of more than 70 people in March and an
increasingly shrill Government critique of spying charges
against several Cuban men who infiltrated exile groups in Miami.
"The repression of the recent months was one of the