Music, tension and death before the arrival of help

While music played an important role yesterday amidst the tensions caused by the arrival of humanitarian aid, death was again present in Venezuela. Military responding to the President Nicolás Maduro opened fire on a group of indigenous peoples who cut a road near the border with Brazil so that the soldiers can not reach the limit and thus prevent the entry of humanitarian aid pulled by the anticoque.

At least one person died and several others were injured, local media reported. The number of reported victims varied according to the media. The The El Nacional newspaper claimed that two unidentified people have died and 15 others were injured, of whom he identified several, while the portal Efecto Cocuyo reported a dead woman and 15 others wounded.

Live

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

The billionaire British Richard Branson was the show's sponsor on the other side ofl 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 lift them out of poverty?"says Branson owner of the Virgin Group, director of a label, an airline and a space tourism company, among other companies and 75,000 employees in 35 countries.

To get to the concert, dozens of Venezuelan faithful of the self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó crossed Colombia through an area full of bushes and a stream, far from the regular border point. There were no soldiers or policemen in the area to prevent their pbadage.

After a few hours, Guaidó himself crossed the border to introduce himself and was received by the President of Colombia, Iván Duque, who was as well as the Chilean Sebastián Piñera.

"This concert takes place once in a lifetime, the poor who take their sunshine, without food, without work, so many things that suffer and finally have a joy", said Shirlet Duran, a Venezuelan, 19 years old.

Reymar Perdomo, a Venezuelan migrant become famous thanks to a video that shows her singing, He opened the concert with his most famous song: "I left", 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 right now, I know that there will be a change because the Venezuelan wants it and we demonstrate it."

On the other side of the bridge, with much less audience, the "Peace Concert", a three-day event organized by Maduro and with minor artists. As political turmoil continuesGuaidó's allies, recognized by half a hundred countries as president of Venezuela, expect the gigantic concert and efforts to benefit from aid to mark a turning point in the consolidation of a transitional government. However, Maduro has shown no sign of giving in.

"I think one of the government's goals is to scramble the cards, to create a kind of chaos that gives a bad image of the opposition," said Phil Gunson, an badyst at Crisis Group in Caracas, about 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.

The Colombian businessman Bruno Ocampo He added that the British tycoon is so determined to provide humanitarian aid to Venezuelans that it will remain in place until today to ensure that food and supplies medical services cross the border. Branson is set as a goal to raise $ 100 million in 60 days, like the 1985 Live Aid Concert, who raised money to relieve a hAmbruna in Ethiopia.

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

Days after Branson announcing his concert, Maduro said that he would organize not only his own festival, but would deliver 20,000 boxes of food for poor Colombians in Cucuta. Paola Quintero, an activist said that even though the concert had an impact positive in Cucuta, Many are worried about what could happen today when thousands of people are trying to get help across the border.

"When you are on the bridge, when humanitarian aid arrives, what do you expect from all these people?" The concern is that, "he said.

Decision

As uncertainty grew over the country's institutional future, Carlos Vecchio, representative of Guaidó in Washington, told El País that the influx of humanitarian aid would generate tensions in the army, which Maduro's order not to let her enter Venezuela. . "I believe that on February 23, he will transmit several messages: First, the strength of a people who seek to relieve pain under Guaidó's leadership.

We are opening several points for humanitarian aid to arrive, not only for Cúcuta, but also for Brazil and by sea, mainly from Curaçao. It will be something huge, we will have the support of the people who are looking for it and this will generate tension in our armed forces, which will have to decide which side they belong to, "he said.