CARACAS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2019) A concert to raise funds for humanitarian aid for Venezuela, organized by business tycoon Richard Branson, has started in the Colombian border town of Cucuta, the local NTN24 news portal reported on Friday.
Last week, Branson announced that he was organizing an international music benefit, dubbed Venezuela Aid Live, to tackle "the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela that worsens everyday."
The organizers of the concert hope to raise $10 million, which they say will be the starting point toward raising $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Venezuela from world governments.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday called Branson's concert "cheap show," which he said was aimed at concealing "provocations and aggression against Venezuela."
In a few hours, a concert, organized by Venezuelan performers, will begin just 300 meters (0.2 miles) away from Venezuela Aid Live. Maduro said it was a response to the actions of Colombia.
The representatives of leftist movements from more than 40 countries have arrived in Venezuela to express their solidarity with Maduro and the "Bolivarian Revolution." During the visit, they had meetings with Venezuelan officials, the ruling party leadership and local youth organizations, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
Dozens of young people representing youth organizations from Africa, the middle East and Europe took part in a charity bicycle ride in the center of Caracas to support peace in Venezuela.
"When we arrived in Venezuela, we thought that the situation here is critical and [expected to see] total chaos on the streets. But we walked through the streets with our local friends. And the situation here is far from what media outlets are saying. The bicycle ride was held [to express] our joint position for a peaceful life in Caracas," Reeda Ashour, a representative of the Jordanian Communist Party, told Sputnik.
International youth teams also participated in humanitarian operations that were held in a number of Venezuelan provinces, In Caracas, the volunteers delivered food to the poor neighborhoods in the Venezuelan capital.
