NEW YORK.- Wuilly Arteaga, symbol of Venezuela’s street wide peaceful struggle for democracy, will arrive New York city after visiting Washington, D.C., and Miami. The 23 year-old musician braves water cannons, tear gas, and sheer violence by the authorities with a violin as his weapon of peace and hope.
On
Saturday, June 24th, Arteaga will participate in a “Musical Mass” at Sacred Sacrament Church at 152 West 71st, New York, NY, that will be celebrated in Spanish by Father D'Angelo. Legendary Cuban musician Paquito D´Rivera -winner of 14 Grammys and many prestigious awards- will join Arteaga in a musical tribute to the victims of repression in Venezuela and Cuba; during Communion, those who've fallen in recent street protests in Venezuela will be named individually. Outstanding Venezuelan musicians including Jorge Glem and Cesar Orozco will also participate in the musical production by Leonardo Granados beginning at 2:30PM, when the Church opens its doors prior to the mass.
After the service, Arteaga and D´Rivera will lead a musical march of the Venezuelan and Cuban exile communities towards the statues of the independence heroes Simón Bolívar and José Martí, located at the entrance to Central Park on 59
th St. and 6
th Avenue. The date coincides with the 196th anniversary of the Battle of Carabobo that sealed Venezuelan independence in 1821.
With his trip to the U.S., Arteaga calls attention to his country’s grave crisis and mass protests. He also seeks to raise funds to donate musical instruments to deprived musicians in Venezuela, inspiring them to play at the peaceful demonstrations taking place all over the country since March.
Arteaga has participated in activities in Washington, DC, and Miami, and hopes to be back in Miami for a public gathering before returning to Venezuela. On Thursday, June 22nd, he and D'Rivera will hold a press conference at the United Nations headquarters hosted by the United Nations Correspondents Association.
Arcadia Foundation and
Cuba Archive / Free Society Project, two non-profit organizations based in the U.S. working to advance human rights and democracy, are hosting Wuilly on this U.S. visit. Venezuelan New York residents Perla Capriles, Leonardo Granados, and Andrés Correa are coordinating the June 24
th activities together with Venezuelan and Cuban organizations from the New York area.
For biographical information on Wuilly Arteaga, see the News section at www.CubaArchive.org. For information on Paquito D'Rivera, see http://www.paquitodrivera.com/.
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