Danny Osian appeals to the relatives of the members of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela and the police forces to try to talk with them and prevent further bloodshed.
The Venezuelan musician posted an emotional message on Tuesday night (July 30) amid mass protests taking place in his country following Venezuela's National Electoral Council declared Nicolas Maduro, the winner of Sunday's (July 28) presidential election, and the opposition have alleged irregularities in the counting process.
“To the relatives, the wives, the mothers, the fathers, the husbands, the daughters, the sons who listen to my music and who have family in the National Armed Forces and the police forces in Venezuela, I ask you to talk to them. They are the only ones who can reduce the deaths, injuries and violence happening in Venezuela today,” Ocean said in a video.
“Please talk to them so they realize. What's right feels right and what's wrong feels wrong,” he added.
Sunday's election in Venezuela had raised expectations of change in many people, after 25 years of the socialist government started by the late Hugo Chavez, President Nicolas Maduro faced “the biggest electoral challenge since he took power 11 years ago.” . reported by The Associated Press. Edmundo González, who represented the united opposition's candidacy, campaigned vigorously against Maduro's re-election.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado denied Maduro's victory and said at a press conference, “We won and everyone knows it,” noting that in the 40% of tallies she had, Gonzalez had won with 70% of the vote.
Protests over suspected government fraud have left several dead and hundreds imprisoned in less than 24 hours, reports El País.
Ocean also expressed concern that the situation could lead to more Venezuelans being deported. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), nearly 8 million people have left the country since 2014 due to the economic and socio-political crisis. The Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants (R4V) warns that, by the end of this year, there could be an estimated 6.82 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean, of which 4.71 million are in need of assistance.
“We are 8 million Venezuelans who are out, and if this continues, there will be a much larger wave of Venezuelans leaving Venezuela,” Ocean said, “and the region is not prepared for that.”
The artist called on those helping to get supplies and medicine to hospitals to tag him on social media so he could share these initiatives with his followers. See his full message below.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/danny-ocean-pleads-for-peace-in-venezuela-1235743568/
