Venezuela opposition leader Guaido appears at aid concert

People attend the "Venezuela Live Aid" concert at the Tienditas cross-border bridge between Colombia and Venezuela, in Cucuta, Colombia, on Friday.   | Photo Credit: RS

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 humanitarian aid.

Ms. Rodriguez said on Twitter that the government was temporarily closing three crossings in Tachira state because of the “serious and illegal threats” against Venezuela’s peace and sovereignty coming from Colombia’s government.

At the concert venue, the feeling was one of collective catharsis, especially for migrants who in recent years have fled Venezuela’s economic implosion by crossing into Colombia. Under a scorching sun, those in attendance waved Venezuelan flags, squirted water at each other and swayed to music by marquee artists including Colombia’s Carlos Vives and Mexican rock band Mana as well as a host of Venezuelan performers.

Reymar Perdomo, a Venezuelan street singer who rose to fame for a video went viral showing her singing on buses in Peru, kicked off the concert with her signature song, “Me Fui,” Spanish for “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.”

The plan to bring in aid is the most ambitious and potentially dangerous that the opposition has attempted to undertake since Guaido decided to challenge Maduro’s rule.

But the embattled socialist has shown no signs of backing down, and analysts warn that whatever happens over the next two days may not yield a conclusive victory for either side.

As if to highlight those risks, a woman from the combative Pemon tribe identified as Zoraida Rodriguez died from bullet wounds in clashes near the border with Brazil. Hours later, members of the Pemon tribe retaliated by taking control of the local airport, gateway to the world-famous Angel Falls. Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators.

There was no immediate information on the condition of the injured, though local authorities said six people had to be rushed to a hospital across border because local clinics lacked medical supplies.

Much like the original 1985 Live Aid concert, which raised funds to relieve the Ethiopian famine, Branson has set a goal to raise $100 million for Venezuelans in need within 60 days. He said he got the idea after brainstorming with Guaido and his political mentor, Leopoldo Lopez, who is under house arrest for leading protests against Maduro in 2014.

“If we can take people to space why is it so hard to take people out of poverty?” said Mr. Branson, who skipped a test flight over California into space by his Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane in order to attend Friday’s concert. “We must break the impasse and end the humanitarian crisis.”

Days after Mr. Branson launched his concert, Maduro’s government announced that not only would they hold a rival festival but that they would also deliver over 20,000 boxes of food for poor Colombians on Friday and Saturday.

In contrast to the festive spirit in Cucuta, most of the acts at the pro-government show were lesser known, the crowd of a few hundred much older and some attendees reported being bussed in by the government from as far away as the capital, Caracas.

“We’re facing a situation of possible aggression by the North American empire,” said Jose Saavedra, a 61-year-old lawyer attending the concert. “We can’t allow them to come here and impose conditions and a president on us. The president is elected by the Venezuelan people following the constitution.”

While the pro-Maduro conference was being broadcast on state TV, people inside Venezuela had trouble tuning into the fundraising concert. Internet watchdog group Netblocks said YouTube, Bing and Google services inside Venezuela went down for nearly an hour on state-run internet provide CanTV. On widely used DirecTV the plug was also pulled on two foreign networks that carried the concert live.

After the concert concluded, Guaido spoke alongside Duque and Pinera at the warehouse where the aid is being stockpiled. He said he was able to circumvent Maduro’s travel ban only with the help of the Venezuelan armed forces, whose loyalty to Maduro has so far been impossible to break and will once again be tested Saturday.

“Here is a Venezuela in search of freedom,” Mr. Guaido said. “Thank you, to the people of the world for opening your doors to us.”