{"id":2440955,"date":"2019-02-23T17:10:55","date_gmt":"2019-02-24T00:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=799348"},"modified":"2019-02-23T17:10:55","modified_gmt":"2019-02-24T00:10:55","slug":"venezuela-aid-live-a-music-event-in-colombia-confrontations-at-the-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/venezuela-aid-live-a-music-event-in-colombia-confrontations-at-the-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela Aid Live: A Music Event in Colombia, Confrontations at the Border"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This story was originally published in Spanish by<\/em> Rolling Stone Colombia\u2018s editors. Read the original Spanish version here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Update 2\/23\/18:<\/strong> The moment of music had long passed, and now it was nearing 7 a.m. on Saturday and the Colombian authorities were preparing to pass humanitarian aid to Venezuela. The night before, however, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, vice president of Venezuela, announwced the closure of the Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar, Uni\u00f3n and Santander bridges for \u201cthe serious and illegal threats attempted by the Government of Colombia against La Paz.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 8 a.m., members of the Bolivarian National Guard had already deserted<\/a>, but Venezuelan soldiers, who prevented their passage to their country, guarded the same border. In Ure\u00f1a, one of the municipalities closest to the Colombian-Venezuelan border, there were protests and clashes between citizens \u2014 who demanded the passage of humanitarian aid \u2014 and the military that was preventing it.<\/p>\n

Colombia\u2019s president, Iv\u00e1n Duque, handed aid over to Juan Guaid\u00f3, Venezuela\u2019s opposition leader, at a press conference, and Guaid\u00f3 said: \u201cWe ask the Venezuelan military to stand on the right side and receive their brothers who are taking help to serve the people of Venezuela.\u201d The tractors that loaded all the supplies arrived at the Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar bridge, where hundreds of volunteers were preparing to pass humanitarian aid through a human chain.<\/p>\n

During a demonstration in Caracas, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro announced that he was breaking political and diplomatic relations with Colombia, giving all diplomatic personnel 24 hours to leave Venezuela<\/a>. As the hours wore on, there were reports that at least 23 members<\/a> of the\u00a0Venezuelan military and police defected\u00a0at the borders. Convoys of\u00a0trucks carrying food aid\u00a0and medical supplies set off for Venezuela from border towns in Colombia and Brazil. Volunteers, protestors and opposition leaders were met with teargas and rubber bullets, and at least three aid trucks near the Colombian border were burned.<\/p>\n

C\u00daCUTA, COLOMBIA<\/strong> 2\/22\/18<\/strong> \u2014 Friday\u2019s Venezuela Aid Live,<\/a> according to its website (where people can still donate<\/a>), sought to bring humanitarian aid that\u2019s in Colombia across the border to reach the most-affected Venezuelans, raise awareness of the situation in Venezuela and raise funds for a social development plan with which expatriates could return to their country.<\/p>\n