Music Buoys Hope for a Free Venezuela

Wuilly Arteaga protests the Maduro regime's brutal tyranny as more than 160 protestors were killed in Venezuela in 2017.

Last year, we watched in real time a new communist regime take form in the Western Hemisphere. With the support of Cuba, Nicolás Maduro erased private property, human rights, political freedom, and the rule of law across Venezuela.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) penned an open letter to the media, which was signed by 5,942 people, demanding major news networks accurately cover the true cause of Venezuela’s economic and humanitarian crisis: socialism.

VOC also partnered with 23-year-old violinist Wuilly Arteaga, who became an icon of the protest movement early in 2017, to advocate for a free Venezuela. The photos and videos coming out of the brutal crackdown on protests showed this brave young man armed only with his violin playing in the streets in support of the cause of freedom.

“I went out to protest with my only weapon,” he told The Washington Post, referring to his violin.

In June, Wuilly performed at VOC’s 10th Annual Roll Call of Nations Ceremony and laid a wreath on behalf of his fellow Venezuelans. While he was in D.C., we brought him to brief Members of Congress on the crisis, and raised $1,500 to buy him a new violin to replace the one that had been deliberately destroyed by a National Guard soldier in May. This was not just Wuilly’s property — it was his livelihood.

Just ahead of Maduro’s sham elections in August, Wuilly was injured by a buckshot to the face, arrested on illegitimate charges, and held in custody for 19 days simply because of his peaceful protest. He was released on August 16, but he and his fellow Venezuelans are still not free.