The Venezuelan group Rawayana is successful after facing Maduro

Mexico – Rawayana, a group made up of Venezuelan emigrants whose tripping and soaked pop of the Caribbean has deserved its world acclamation, rose high.

At the end of last year, the group had just been nominated for a Grammy, was confirmed for the Coachella range this month and was about to go out A new album With the beloved Colombian group Stereo bomb. And after two years of close tour non -stop around the world, Rawayana was preparing an epic return: celebration concerts through Venezuela which sold almost as soon as they were announced.

But in December, a few days before the start of the tour, the group that has always seen its music as a refuge of the turbulent political landscape of Venezuela was itself involved in politics.

Venezuela authoritarian chief Nicolás Maduro, whom Rawayana criticized last year after declaring the victory in a faked electiondelivered a fiery television speech in which he castigated the group and a successful song he had just released, calling him “horrible” and an insult to Venezuelan femininity.

The premises began to disavow Rawayana, who was forced to cancel his tour.

“Until further notice, this is how we say goodbye to our country,” he wrote on social networks.

The leader of the Alberto “Beto” group Montenegro said he was saddened by Maduro's attacks, but not surprised. The 36 -year -old singer and his group comrades are part of the largest diaspora in the world – among nearly 8 million Venezuelans who have fled political and economic crises in duel in the last decade – and the leaders of their country have long found new ways to disappoint them.

But the Venezuelans, they knew, were nothing otherwise resilient. And so group comrades picked up their instruments and continued to do what they have always done: look forward and play songs for remote compatriots who aspire to the sounds of the house.

“There are so many ugly things around the world,” said Montenegro recently in Mexico City with Bomba Estéo Frontwoman Li Samet to promote their new, astropical super-group. “But we are trying to stay optimistic and pass from love. We hope that our music will be used to heal. ”

Rawayana members in Hollywood stand together in relaxed clothes.

The members of Rawayana – Montenegro, Antonio Casas, Andrés Story and Alejandro Abeijón – were still children when the leftist Hugo Chávez won the presidency in 1998 and began to nationalize the Venezuela industries and consolidate power.

They started by downloading tracks on the internet at university and quickly won follow -up. At a time when the political context of the country was increasingly heavy, their sound of reggae and funk was light – dominated by dancing songs on weekends on the beach and the cheeky covers of reggaeton tubes.

“Music for us was like an evacuation hatch,” said Montenegro. The group invented the name Rawayana, which he imagined as a distant island far from the real world and its problems. His first album, in 2011, was called “Licenca Para Ser Libre”. Authorization to be free.

But as the group gained popularity and began to collaborate with some of the country's most accomplished musicians, Venezuela collapses. In 2013, Chávez died and Maduro took power. The economy has dropped, the homicides have skyrocketed and Caracas has become one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

The formerly flourishing nightlife in the capital, with its crowded salsa and meringue clubs, has been black. After several of the members of the group were briefly kidnapped, they decided to leave.

“There was nothing, no opportunity,” said Montenegro. “The only thing we could do was sing in private concerts for wealthy people who could pay them or make government concerts. And we don't like any of these paths. ”

The members of the group lived between Miami and Mexico City. Their paths outside the country – helped by record companies that helped get visas – were easier than those of most Venezuelan migrants, who dispersed in the world in search of opportunities and security.

Abroad, Rawayana continued to make music for these people at home – returning to Venezuela when possible to play free concerts. But they also became, as Montenegro describes, “the soundtrack of the diaspora”.

The group has constantly traveled, playing animated concerts wherever the Venezuelans had settled, from Barcelona to Omaha. The Venezuelan flags have stolen from each show.

The life of migrants is difficult, said Orestes Gómez, a percussionist born to the Veneean who turns with Rayana. “People want to come and appreciate as if they were back in Caracas.”

“Each time they play, their music is impeccable and the atmosphere is simply incredible,” said César Andrés Rodriguez, music producer in Venezuela who now lives in Miami. “Everyone has fun, dancing. I have never seen a bad show. ”

The group continues to make sunny and funky pop which offers an escape path. “You don't need a visa to be happy,” said Montenegro and rapper Apache Croon on the song.

But Rawayana has increasingly addressed political themes. A song from their 2021 album, “Cuando Los accession predominan” (when The Headless Predominate) offered a veiled criticism of the corrupt elite that governs Venezuela, describing private parts where the servers serve “bottles of champagne worth five times more than the pension of your grandmother”.

The demonstrators demonstrate in the streets of the city

Last year, with dissatisfaction on Maduro at a summit of all time, Venezula's opposition had great hopes that it would be able to best during the presidential election near the country.

The evidence collected by independent observers suggest that the opposition candidate Edmundo González won easily, but the electoral officials said Maduro the winner. The Venezuelans inside and outside the country shouted fraud.

“Venezuela has been experiencing great fraud for many years … ideological, moral and ethical fraud,” said Montenegro Display panel. “Unfortunately, we are not surprised by another electoral fraud, we have already seen everything.”

The demonstrators compete against the authorities in the street while the smoke fills the air.

Maduro's attacks occurred a few months later. Its target: A successful song Rawayana did with the artist Akapellah called “Veneka”.

The song, which has become one of the most listened to Latin songs in Latin America, sought to attribute new meaning to the insult “Veneca” which was used to describe Venezuelan migrants in neighboring countries like Colombia.

“Where are the venecanal women who represent?” The song asks. “Wherever she is going, the whole world knows that she is the boss.”

“We wanted to use it as a symbol of resilience,” said Montenegro. “It was like,” I don't care what's calling me. We are the best.

But Maduro slammed it. “The women of Venezuela are called Venezuelans with respect and dignity … Not Venecas!” he said during a gathering. The chief called the song “Insulting” and allegedly alleged that the group “tried to disfigure our identity”.

In the days that followed Rayana forced to cancel the tour, the members of the group have depressed depression.

The leaders of Venezuela had already devastated their country. “Now they were trying to take advantage of our success to generate news,” said Montenegro.

But there were good things on the horizon. Like the great Rawayana evening in February, when they became the first Venezuelan act in Win a grammy For the best Latin or alternative album.

When they accepted the price, Montenegro appointed a dozen Venezuelan musicians in a rhymed speech and urged his compatriots to keep the head.

Then there was the surprise announcement to fans of an album with Bomba Estéreo.

Last year, Saumet contacted Rawayana to collaborate on one. Things were running out so well in the studio that they recorded a full album.

A man in a pink jacket and a woman in long light blue hair and sunglasses smile.

Astropical launched a tour in Mexico last month and will play the Hollywood bowl September 7.

While they worked, musicians linked to the similarities of their country – the difficulties that the Venezueleurs are confronted now reflects the violence that tormented Colombia in the 1990s.

And after Rayana found himself attacked by Maduro, Saumet gave advice to Monténégro.

Success, she said, always comes with difficulties. “”The larger the tree, the larger the shadow.

But adversity, she said, often opens the way to art.

“”The most impactful music comes from difficult situations, ”she said.

For Montenegro, what matters most are the group listeners. “We have people's support,” he said. “So I don't mind much.”

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