The sumptuous wedding in the midst of a hungry and crisis-stricken Venezuela

CARACAS – This is the kind of increasingly unusual celebration in Venezuela: a sumptuous wedding of two young entrepreneurs in a hacienda in the tropical plains, an area known for its brave cowboys and where places like this These serve an increasingly small and elite clientele.

For three days, guests, including a former university, large landowners and other members of 1% of Venezuela, emptied expensive whiskey bottles, drove horse buffaloes and trampled the music of 39, a singer of popular music llanera.

"This is not the reality of Venezuela," said a server.

But even in this place reserved for the rich in a nation plunged into an economic crisis, the reality was present, at least a moment. A children's hospital in the area was run down and the couple and their guests decided to paint their dented walls.

"Obviously, in these circumstances, it is difficult to organize this celebration, but that is why we made the hospital," said the groom, Juan José Pocaterra, 32, co-founder and CEO of Vikua, a tech startup with the Latin name meaning "quality of life" and the magazine Forbes described as one of the most promising in Latin America.

"For Juan and me, who are entrepreneurs, it was very important to do it here, because we bet on Venezuela."said María Fernanda Vera, founder and CEO of Melao, a fashion company that grew up in the plains. We believe in the reconstruction of Venezuela. "

This oil-rich country is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in Latin America's modern history. About 3 million people, or nearly 10% of the population, have left the country to escape hunger, violence and hyperinflation. There are few drugs. And many who have remained can not meet their basic needs with a minimum wage of about $ 6 a month.

Faced with this reality, at the beginning of the celebration on Friday, about 50 guests helped print rhomboid figures on blue walls at the Children's Hospital of the nearby town of Acarigua.

The activity, organized with the help of the non-profit group Trazando Espacios Públicos, "is one way to contribute amidst so much suffering," said Pocaterra, while his girlfriend, who usually gives milk powder and other products in the hospital. He nodded.

As night fell, every reminder of the humanitarian crisis the country was facing was diluted.

The guests gathered on a ranch under the full moon. Some put on helmets and rode for a party in which water buffaloes were taken to a corral, while others watched at a safe distance. Waiters with ties handed over beer and grilled chorizo ​​while a group of musicians played joropos, a typical rhythm with harps, maracas and four-string guitars. Joel Hernández, a 72-year-old singer with a cowboy hat, serenaded the bride and groom by singing Llanero's songs.

Many guests wore T-shirts designed by the bride's signature "La Tierrita", in reference to its origins in the plains, the vast savannah that covers much of central Venezuela, from the Orinoco to the Andes. It is a region of exotic birds, caymans and capybaras, where was born the late chef Hugo Chávez, who often remembered that he had been raised in a mud hut in this region.

Few people wanted to hear about Chavez or his successor Nicolás Maduro among those present, including landowners to whom the socialist government expropriated land, opposition politicians and a student leader who almost lost an eye on an anti-government protest. Many close friends of the couple could not be present because, like many wealthy Venezuelans, they settled abroad, in places like Miami, Madrid and other cities in Europe and Spain. of South America where live large communities of Venezuelans.

Who spoke is Juan Guaidó, the 35-year-old opposition leader, was proclaimed interim president in January and recognized by the United States and some 50 countries, which offers hope for change for the first time in decades. Sitting on wooden tables, some wondered half-jokingly when the US Marines would arrive.

The next morning, the guests woke up in rustic huts to the sound of birds chirping in the area, with a slight hangover. After a typical breakfast with arpas, the day's activities included climbing a wall, horseback riding, swimming and playing petanque. In the field, the pawns killed a cow and a pig for roasting and set up a stage worthy of a rock concert.

Then came the wedding at the edge of a lake. The women, dressed in elegant light summer dresses, fitted themselves with delicately painted fans and held pastel-colored umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. The men wore white shirts, suspenders, bow ties and beige trousers, as well as Panama hats that they received upon their arrival. Among the bridesmaids of the bride was the former Miss Universe, Stefanía Fernández.

Maickel Melamed, the motivational speaker known for his TED talks and marathons around the world despite muscular dystrophy, was responsible for the ceremony and joined the couple on a wooden pontoon to the sound of "Here is the sun", Beatles, and" A whole new world ", from Disney.

As the sun fell on the lake, Melamed asked people to close their eyes and ask "a desire for the land that we all aspire to".

Back at the hacienda, the party started with a lot of Johnnie Walker Black. People lined up in front of a buffet of beef and pork, yucca and cachapas, a sweet tortilla made from sweet corn typical of Venezuela: more than 50 kilos of cheese had been bought on site for the event. Some guests danced until after four in the morning.

For the former Miss Universe, a politically active woman, it was the first time in years she had returned to Venezuela.

In 2014, Fernández and other artists, celebrities and athletes joined the campaign "Jaws in Venezuela"to protest the restrictions on freedom of expression." He posed, wearing a crown, his face painted black and apparently bloody, and with a rope in his mouth. Shortly after, he declared that he had lost all his contracts and other activities and left the country. He spent time in Miami and now lives in Colombia..

"The decision to come here has not been easy," he said. "I was a little afraid to face the reality of Venezuela, and the situation is growing more and more, there is more and more hunger and poverty, but today, there is there is also hope ".