- Title: From paintings to flash protests, Venezuelan artists raise voices
- Date: 20th June 2017
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) OSCAR OLIVARES, A PAINTER AND FRIEND OF SLAIN STUDENT PROTESTER JUAN PERNALETE, SAYING: ''The shields that today have the images of the Virgin, of merciful Jesus, have taken another significance. The same people who carry them feel differently. In fact, I have been told stories about people who are protesting and almost unexpectedly, a shield comes to their hands and they have the image of the Virgin and the people say: 'I feel it was the Virgin herself who helped me get a hold of that shield.' That is something very significant and everything is born of a person who wants to express themselves before the country's situation. My message is that all of us, with our gifts, our talents, can build a better Venezuela."
- Embargoed: 4th July 2017 17:41
- Keywords: voices crisis art opposition discontent President Nicolas Maduro protests signs Venezuela
- Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA0056M32M9V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Deploying poems, paintings and posters, opposition-minded artists in Venezuela are expanding their anti-government protests, offering a peaceful alternative to the violent political unrest costing at least 73 lives in two months.
At the event, lasting just minutes, some shouted phrases lauding peaceful resistance, while others held letters of the alphabet drawn on cardboard which, when joined, spelled a line: "With violence we lose everything."
Such surprise demonstrations are organized by a group of intellectuals and artistic creators - from historians to film directors - meeting discreetly since May, sometimes in bookshops, to design different strategies of protests to the traditional street marches.
The organizers break into small groups and appear suddenly at opposition marches or public spaces, including some areas dominated by government supporters, to leave messages that later go viral on social networks.
Near-daily opposition rallies have brought chaos to Venezuelan streets since April as protesters demand elections, solutions to an economic crisis and a suspension of leftist President Nicolas Maduro's plan to rewrite the constitution.
Many have descended into battles between masked youths and security forces, with thousands of injuries and arrests on top of the fatalities. Maduro says the protesters are seeking a violent coup with U.S. encouragement.
Seeking to create arresting images, artists have sometimes turned to gargantuan projects.
The artists, some of whom draw inspiration from Spain's anti-austerity protesters known as "Indignados" ("The Indignant Ones"), are convinced their methods will be more successful than violent protests. Mariela Ramirez, a fifty-two-year-old architect said they we're trying to reflect what common people feel.
At times, the security forces have fired tear gas canisters directly at the peaceful art-themed protest gatherings.
Oscar Olivares, a painter and friend of slain student protester Juan Pernalete, mixes the faces of victims with religious images in his protest-themed designs.
Sometimes, peaceful protesters have been holding up signs, like "Ceasefire!" or "No To Violence!," just meters (yards) from where young men hurl stones and Molotov cocktails against National Guard soldiers using tear gas and water cannons.
In the Venezuelan capital Caracas' largest slum, Petare, they recently unfurled a 25-meter- (82-foot-) wide poster made from 3,000 two bolivar currency notes - worth less than $1 at the street rate - to denounce roaring inflation and economic hardship. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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