Rivals out of tune over aid
Defying orders banning him from leaving Venezuela, opposition leader Juan Guaido made a surprise appearance at the end of a star-studded aid concert in neighbouring Colombia yesterday, joining thousands of other Venezuelans in pressuring President Nicolas Maduro into allowing the delivery of emergency food and medicine.
In Venezuela, a much smaller crowd gathered for a rival, threeday ‘‘Hands Off Venezuela’’ festival being organised by Maduro.
Even as several million Venezuelans flee the country and those who remain struggle to find basic goods like food and antibiotics, the embattled president claims the relief effort led by Guaido is a United Statesorchestrated ploy to oust him.
It was not clear how Guaido sneaked into Colombia – in one video circulating on social media, he appears to be running across a bridge near the Colombian town of Puerto Santander, while in another he could be seen boarding a helicopter belonging to the Colombian air force.
But once he arrived at the giant stage located next to the Tienditas bridge connecting the two countries, he was greeted like a rock star himself. Thousands of Venezuelans shouted ‘‘Juan arrived! Juan arrived!’’ when they spotted him accompanied by a large contingent of Colombian security.
The presidents of Colombia, Chile and Paraguay were on hand to be the first foreign heads of state to embrace the 35-yearold lawmaker since he declared himself interim president a month ago.
The optimistic mood at the concert in the Colombian border city of Cucuta couldn’t mask underlying tensions a day before Maduro’s opponents embark on a risky strategy to undermine Maduro and bring in the humanitarian aid being amassed along three of Venezuela’s borders.
Thousands of kilometres away, near a border crossing with Brazil, a member of an indigenous tribe was killed and 22 more injured in clashes with security forces enforcing Maduro’s orders to keep out the aid.
Hours before the concert in Cucuta began, dozens of Venezuelans hiked across the border through high bushes on an unmarked trail. They carried ice boxes, snacks and water and whispered directions as they kept a close eye out for Venezuelan soldiers.
‘‘This concert happens once in a lifetime,’’ 19-year-old Shirley Duran said. ‘‘It will be a great opportunity for so many poor people who are suffering under the heat, who are hungry, jobless. At last they’ll have something to enjoy.’’
British billionaire Richard Branson organized the ‘‘Live Aid Venezuela’’ concert, which featured dozens of Latin musicians performing on a bridge-side stage not far from where Maduro’s government has placed a giant shipping container and tanker to prevent the delivery of US-supplied food and medical kits. Branson has set a goal of raising US$100 million (NZ$146m) for Venezuelans in need within 60 days.
Guaido, who the US and dozens of other countries have recognised as Venezuela’s rightful leader, are hoping the massive concert in Cucuta will set the stage for the smooth delivery of the aid and a turning point in their quest for a transitional government.
After the concert, Venezuela’s Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez said her government was ordering the partial closure of the border with Colombia hours ahead of the planned delivery of the aid, because of the ‘‘serious and illegal threats’’ against Venezuela’s peace and sovereignty coming from Colombia’s government.
Reymar Perdomo, a Venezuelan street singer who rose to fame after a video showing her singing on buses in Peru went viral, kicked off the concert with her signature song, Me Fui (I Left), which has become the unofficial anthem of the mass exodus.
Perdomo said performing so close to the border brought back painful memories.
‘‘A little over a year ago, I crossed this border and was robbed of my luggage and all my money,’’ she said. ‘‘But I know in this moment that there will be change, because Venezuelans want it and they are showing it today.’’ – AP