Venezuela Aid Live was a concert to benefit Venezuela in Cúcuta, Colombia, a city near the Venezuelan border, on 22 February 2019. The all-day concert, called Música por Venezuela: Ayuda y Libertad (), was organized by Richard Branson and Bruno Ocampo, and featured over thirty of the best known Latin American artists from nine countries. The concert's slogan was, "Let the stars shine for all".
Venezuela Live Aid's charity page said, "Not that long ago, [Venezuela] was the wealthiest country in South America. Now it is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere." The purpose of the concert was to raise money and to pressure Nicolás Maduro to "open Venezuela's border so humanitarian aid stockpiled on Venezuela's borders can finally reach those millions who need it the most". Donations of US$2.5 million were raised online in the first four days after the concert.
The concert was entirely funded through donations, artists performed without charge, and the event itself was free. The concert was livestreamed on the Internet, with the aim to raise funds via website donations. The only webpage authorized for donations was the official website at www.VenezuelaAidLive.com.
Background
Shortages in Venezuela have occurred since the presidency of Hugo Chávez, with the country experiencing a scarcity rate of 24.7% in 2007. Venezuela has also been suffering a socioeconomic crisis under Nicolás Maduro, as rampant crime, hyperinflation and shortages diminished the quality of life since 2010. Beginning in 2015, the Maduro government rejected offers of aid, stating that there was no humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and that such claims were only used to justify foreign intervention; his refusal of aid worsened the situation. The National Assembly of Venezuela declared a "health humanitarian crisis" in January 2016, given the "serious shortage of medicines, medical supplies and deterioration of humanitarian infrastructure", asking Maduro's government to "guarantee immediate access to (...) essential medicines".
Near the end of 2018—before the Venezuelan presidential crisis when Juan Guaidó swore an oath to serve as interim president—the Maduro government said aid from other countries would be coordinated through the UN. Reuters reported concerns that the UN funding would be lost to corruption in Maduro's government. After the 2019 presidential crisis, Maduro continued to refuse aid, saying that Venezuela was not a country of "beggars".
Guaidó made bringing humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who could die if aid does not arrive a priority. Cúcuta has become the hub and focal point of the humanitarian aid crisis in Venezuela; in addition to being the site of the concert, it was the main border crossing point for thousands of Venezuelans fleeing their country in the Venezuela–Colombia migrant crisis, and the location where most of the aid was stockpiled. Images of the Tienditas Bridge, joining Colombia and Venezuela at Cúcuta, have come to symbolize the crisis because the "Venezuelan government blocked it with shipping containers". Due to the migrant crisis, the bridge was never opened after its 2016 completion, and was previously closed with fences and concrete block.
Purpose
Branson and his friend, Colombian businessman Bruno Ocampo, spoke of Venezuela and their passion for human rights in December 2018. Six weeks later, Branson wrote to Ocampo, inquiring about ways to help Venezuela, and by 30 January, they had made contact with interim president Guaidó and his mentor Leopoldo López. Branson announced on 14 February 2019 that his inspiration to organize the benefit concert was Guaidó and Lopez asking for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Venezuela. The concert was held only three weeks after the four men spoke.
Branson said the event was held to raise money for aid in Venezuela, to pressure the government of Nicolás Maduro to allow the humanitarian aid funded by various nations and stored in Cúcuta to be distributed within Venezuela, and to raise awareness of the crisis in Venezuela. He criticized Maduro's regime for refusing aid. The concert's Spanish website listed five general groups in Venezuela which the concert aimed to help: children who go hungry every day, grandparents left to die in the streets due to lack of welfare, parents who work hard and still can't provide, young people unjustly persecuted, and humanity deserving a life in peace.