Crisis in Venezuela: Maduro government announces "counter-concert" on Colombian border in front of opposition supporters in favor of international aid

The Venezuelan government announced Monday the celebration of a "grand concert" on the Colombian border on February 22 and 23, which will coincide with that organized Friday by opposition supporters in favor of helping international.

Venezuelan Minister of Information, Jorge Rodríguez, announced in statements to the national channel VTV that the concert would have for motto "Manos fuera de Venezuela".

"We have received a proposal from a large number of Venezuelan artists who have asked for a cultural meeting, a great concert for peace, for life," he said, although he said, he did not specify the artists who would participate.

The concert, which will be held on the Simón Bolívar bridge between Colombia and Venezuela, will be, according to the official, a "message of denunciation against the brutal aggression to which the Venezuelan people are trying to submit."

"Venezuela Aid Live"

This event will coincide with the celebration this Friday of "Venezuela Aid Live", a big charity concert organized in Cúcuta on the Colombian side of the border between the two countries.

"Our goal is to raise 100 million US dollars in 60 days and reopen the Venezuelan border so that humanitarian aid can finally reach the millions of people who need it most," said Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group Group, which promotes this concert. .

According to the British billionaire, the leader of the opposition and sworn in last month as "president in charge" of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, but also the leader of the opposition, Leopoldo López, have asked for Help to organize "a magnificent concert to attract the attention of the world"

President Guaidó and Colombian President Iván Duque stressed the importance of this event to mobilize the world in favor of humanitarian aid for the country.

The concert of Cúcuta has in its poster Venezuelan and international singers like Luis Fonsi, Juanes, Ricardo Montaner, Juan Luis Guerra, Fonseca, Alejandro Sanz, J Balvin, Carlos Vives, Nacho, Anitta, Lele Pons or Mau and Ricky, among others .

Sístole, the company that supports the organization of the show, confirmed Monday to the Colombian radio station La W Radio that the increasing number of artists wishing to participate in the project had forced to move the concert venue on the bridge Tienditas in Cucuta.

Donations in Cúcuta

The choice of this enclave is not a coincidence: in this Colombian city, tons of international aid have been stored for weeks in the form of food or medicine while waiting to be admitted to Venezuela.

Maduro said last week that the food offered by the United States is a "rotten gift" that has the "poison of humiliation," while its vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, said without showing proof that he is "carcinogenic".

The simultaneous convocation of the two concerts is the last chapter of the great crisis between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, especially as the President of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, was sworn in as that "president in charge" of the country on January 23.

President Nicolás Maduro has described this act of attempted "coup de l'état" supported by international powers such as the United States. and accused Guaidó of trying to usurp the executive power.