Music and death before a key day

Cúcuta While music played an important role yesterday amidst the tension created by the arrival of humanitarian aid, death was once again present in Venezuela.

Military officers who responded to President Nicolás Maduro opened fire on a group of natives who had cut a road, near the border with Brazil, so that soldiers could not reach the limit and thus prevent the Entry of humanitarian aid under the impulse of anti-Chavezism. At least one person died and several others were injured, local media reported.

The number of reported victims varied according to the media.

The newspaper The National He stated that two unidentified persons died and 15 others were injured; Meanwhile, the news portal Cocuyo effect reported a dead woman and 15 wounded.

Live

The "Puma" Rodríguez, the Mexican Paulina Rubio and Argentine Diego Torres, among other artists, gave life to the Venezuela Aid Live, a concert that took place in the Colombian city of Cúcuta on the western border with Venezuela.

British billionaire Richard Branson was the sponsor of the show on the other side of the Tienditas Bridge, which divides the two countries and that the Maduro government has blocked with containers.

"If we can take people into space, why is it so difficult to get people out of poverty?" Said Branson, owner of Virgin Group, label manager, airline and space tourism company , among others. companies employing 75,000 people in 35 countries.

To get to the concert, dozens of Venezuelan loyalists of self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaidó entered Colombia by an area of ​​bushes and streams, far from the usual border crossing point. There were no soldiers or policemen in the area to prevent their pbadage.

"This concert takes place once in a lifetime, the poor who take their sunshine, without food, without work, so much suffering and now they finally have a joy," said Shirlet Durán, a Venezuelan, 19.

Reymar Perdomo, a Venezuelan migrant who became famous thanks to a video that shows her singing, opened the concert with her most famous song: I went, which became the unofficial hymn of Venezuelans who fled their country because of the economic crisis. Perdomo said that singing so close to his country reminded him of bad memories.

"A year ago and a little more, I crossed this border, where they stole my luggage and all my money," he said. "But at this moment, I know that there will be a change because the Venezuelan wants it and we demonstrate it."

On the other side of the bridge, the "Concierto de la Paz" took place, with a much smaller audience participation, a three-day event organized by Maduro with minor artists.

As the political turmoil continues, Guaidó's allies, recognized by half a hundred countries as Venezuela's legitimate president, hope that the mbadive concert and effort to bring in aid marks a turning point in which a government transition However, Maduro has shown no sign of giving up.

"Propaganda war"

"I think one of the government's goals is to scramble the cards, to create a kind of chaos that gives the opposition no good looks," said Phil Gunson, an badyst at Crisis Group in Caracas, the Maduro concert. "It's a propaganda war."

Branson agreed to approve the concert this month after being contacted by Guaidó, Leopoldo López – an opposition leader under house arrest – and others. Colombian businessman Bruno Ocampo said the British tycoon is so intent on providing humanitarian aid to Venezuelans that it will remain in place until today so that food and medical supplies cross the border.

Branson's goal is to raise $ 100 million in 60 days, like the Live Aid Concert of 1985, which raised funds to alleviate a famine in Ethiopia.

Six hundred tons of aid, mostly from the United States, are stored on the Tienditas bridge for two weeks. While millions of Venezuelans are fleeing the country and those left are suffering from shortages of food and medicine, Maduro says the aid is a conspiracy by the Donald Trump government to overthrow him.

A few days after the announcement of his concert by Branson, Maduro announced that he would not only hold his own festival, but would bring 20,000 boxes of food to poor Colombians in Cucuta.

Paola Quintero, an activist, said that although the concert had a positive impact on Cúcuta, many are worried about what could happen today, when thousands of people are trying to get the ball rolling. 39, help on the other side of the border.

"When you're on the bridge, when humanitarian aid arrives, what's waiting for everyone?" The concern is that, "he said.

Decision

As the country's institutional uncertainty grew, Guaidó's representative in Washington, Carlos Vecchio, told the The country that aid income will generate tension in the military, which is the order of Maduro not to let it enter. "On February 23, he will broadcast several messages, first of all, the strength of a people who are trying to relieve pain under Guaidó's leadership, and we are opening up several help points to reach not only Cucuta but also Brazil. By sea, mainly from Curaçao, it will be something huge, we will have the support of the people who will look for it and it will generate tensions in our armed forces, which will have to decide which side they are in. people who want food and medicine, including their relatives, or the side of the dictatorship, who does not care about the suffering of the people, "he said.

Politicization of help worries