Poets, artists and cultural workers gathered in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Tuesday to stage a rally dedicated to peace, national sovereignty and opposition to war.
Held under the theme of "poetry and songs for the homeland, peace and sovereignty," the rally saw participants presenting their poetries, songs and artistic works to share strength in tense and uncertain environment.
These cultural expressions were part of acts from grassroots communities calling for the release of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
The U.S. military launched a large-scale strike in the oil-rich South American nation and seized Maduro on Jan 3. Maduro is now in custody in New York to stand trial on drug charges.
"We have talked in recent days about this serious situation that we Venezuelans have experienced. Whenever I am asked that question, I say, yes, I am sad, yes, I am affected, but never demoralized, my morale remains high," said Nataly Perez, a cultural worker.
"We are raising up art, we are raising up the word, we are raising up beauty and aesthetics with art creation to tell the imperial hegemon that they will not defeat us, that they will not intimidate us," said Joel Linares, an author.
"Particularly, at this moment, we are here to demand that U.S. imperialism return Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores to us, but we will tell them through beauty, we will tell them with poetry, we will tell them with songs," said Leonel Ruiz, a singer and songwriter.
Venezuelan artists in Caracas call for peace with poetry, song
Venezuelan artists in Caracas call for peace with poetry, song
