Danny Ocean stands up for millions of Venezuelan refugees in ‘Venequia’

Miami, Aug 16 (EFE).- The songs from ‘Venequia,’ the latest production by Venezuelan singer and composer Danny Ocean, have become an essential part of the soundtrack of protests by his compatriots around the world, who are demanding “respect for the election results” and the removal of Nicolás Maduro from power.

“It wasn’t something planned, it’s music that comes from my anguish,” said the Venezuelan singer-songwriter in an interview with EFE on Friday.

The singer-songwriter, visiting Miami to work on initiatives that benefit Venezuelan refugees, stressed that, “In the end, there are more than eight million of us going through the same pain” and that “Venezuela has always been his “most genuine and real source of inspiration.”

“As a refugee, I am just one more, but with the possibility of amplifying the voice of those of us who are outside and speaking without fear to those who are inside, something that is more important today than ever, with the cruel and violent repression that our people are experiencing,” continued Daniel Morales, Danny Ocean’s given name, in his complaint.

In addition to being a collaborator of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Danny Ocean has partnered with the Cotopaxi brand, which donates part of its profits to organizations working on climate crisis issues and displaced communities.

The displacement of Venezuelans is, according to UNHCR, the largest refugee crisis in recent history worldwide, second only to Syria, whose civil war has forced more than 7.8 million people to flee the country.

Opinion polls conducted in Venezuela before and after the elections on July 28th put the number of new people who would leave the country at between four and eight million if the regime of Nicolás Maduro does not leave power.

This Saturday, the Venezuelan opposition has called for protests in more than 300 cities around the world to demand that the results of the presidential elections held on July 28 be respected.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Maduro’s victory for a third consecutive term has been rejected and described as “fraud” by the majority Venezuelan opposition and questioned by several foreign governments and international monitoring groups.

Danny Ocean, 32, is one of the artists who will attend the rally and protest in Miami. “It’s the least I can do,” said the artist, adding that he is motivated not only by his civic conscience but also by the consideration that his career owes to that very pain.

“My first success, the song that changed my life was ‘Me rehúso’, a song I wrote for a love I had to leave when I was forced to leave Venezuela,” he explained.

That was seven years ago and now that song has become an anthem that reflects how heartbreaking separations are, “because love is not only romantic: one leaves one’s soul with family, friends, places when one leaves and even more so when one is forced to leave,” she stressed.

Although he does not feel comfortable talking about the circumstances that led him to become a political refugee in the United States, he does not hide his political position. “We are tired. We are very hurt,” he says with tears in his eyes.

Young Venezuelans have taken songs from the EP ‘Venequia’ such as the acoustic version of ‘Me rehúso’, ‘Una escala en Panamá’ and ‘Una niña de Venezuela’ to accompany their videos on social media.

One of the lyrics of his songs that has generated the most conversation on social media is the one that says “I’ll trade justice for peace” from ‘Por la pequeña Venecia’, which he wrote, he says, before the repression of the Venezuelan regime.

“Despite the pain, the prisoners, the victims, the dead and the broken soul, I believe so. I would still trade them (justice for peace),” she said.
Alicia Civita