MIAMI (AP) — One among Venezuela’s hottest bands canceled its homecoming tour after President Nicolas Maduro criticized the group for what he stated had been sexist lyrics — a lashing out that many stated was an assault by the leftist chief over the band’s embrace of his political opponents.
Rawayana, a 2025 Grammy nominee, was to play throughout the nation to sold-out reveals, beginning this week however the concert events had been abruptly cancelled on Tuesday night time.
On Sunday, Maduro laid into the group for its hit tune “Veneka” — a time period lengthy utilized by Latin People to seek advice from Venezuelans however which has turn into pejorative over the previous years as thousands and thousands of Venezuelans fanned throughout the continent, fleeing poverty and Maduro’s more and more authoritarian rule.
“The group that made that song didn’t just mess things up, they stepped in it, they stepped in it,” Maduro stated, talking at a rally in Caracas, the nation’s capital. “The women of Venezuela are called Venezuelans with respect and dignity. They are Venezuelans, not venekas!”
Rawayana took the time period for the title of its catchy tune, which mixes salsa and an digital dub groove with misogynistic lyrics. Nonetheless, the band claims the tune celebrates Venezuelan ladies’s magnificence and power.
The tour was to be a homecoming for Rawayana, which was shaped in Caracas in 2007.
A few of its members, like thousands and thousands of Venezuelans, have deserted their homeland lately because the financial system nosedived and Maduro tightened his grip on energy. Whereas the group has principally steered away from politics, it leveraged its highly effective voice amongst Venezuelan youth to protest Maduro’s reelection this summer time amid widespread allegations of fraud.
“This is how we say goodbye to our country until further notice,” the group stated in a submit on social media submit asserting the cancelled tour. “Our music is not meant to divide….Peace.”
Many Venezuelans took to social media to denounce what they take into account an unfair assault on the group by Maduro.
“I’ve never gone to a concert in my 23 years and with great effort I managed to gather my money,” stated one upset fan on Instagram. “We can’t even be happy any more.”
Rawayana was final month nominated for finest Latin Rock album on the Grammys happening in February in Los Angeles
