Saludos, amigos:
Shortly after I arrived in Tennessee 10 years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find arepas at the Nashville Farmers Market food truck called Caracasville.
Arepas, for the uninitiated, are corn cakes − fried or baked − often made into sandwiches stuffed with meats, cheeses and other goodies. It's a Venezuelan delicacy that the Cuban-Venezuelan side of my family loved to serve on Sundays when I lived in Florida.
But despite delicious food and a beautiful traditions, Venezuela has not been in the news of late for its cultural contributions, but rather for President Nicolás Maduro's insistence that he won another term in office when local and international observers say he lost in a landslide and say they have proof.
The crackdown by the Maduro government inspired protests across the country including one at Nashville's Centennial Park last Saturday.
Reporter Vivian Jones and photographer Nicole Hester documented the demonstration.
"Three hundred voices sang Venezuela’s national anthem at the Centennial Park Bandshell on Saturday afternoon, as a lone violin eked out the strains of “Gloria al Bravo Pueblo" ― glory to the brave people ― and a dozen red, yellow and blue Venezuelan flags fluttered in the breeze," wrote Jones at the start of her story.
The Biden Administration has recognized Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González as the election winner and other Latin American leaders have called for new elections.
Sadly, news reports show people protesting in Venezuela are being killed,arrested and threatened by the government and many more are fleeing the country.
If you were at one of these protests in Tennessee or elsewhere, share with me what it was like and send any photos to dplazas@tennessean.com .
Third annual Latino Tennessee Voices Storytellers Live returns
Save the date: The third annual show is Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.
These are our storytellers:
- Stephanie Amador, photographer for The Tennessean
- Jacob Aparicio, communications director at Tennessee Human Rights Commission
- Viridiana de León, founder of Nash Latina Bosses
- Sandra Sepúlveda, the first Latina on the Metro Council of Nashville-Davidson County
- Diego Eguiarte, founder and CEO of Nuestro Financial
Purchase tickets for $15 each at this link .
Previous shows took place at Plaza Mariachi in 2022 and Casa Azafrán in 2023.
Thank you to our 2024 presenting sponsor BlueCross Blue Shield of Tennessee.
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¡Muchas gracias!
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. He is of Colombian and Cuban descent, has studied or worked in several Spanish-speaking countries, and was the founding editor of Gaceta Tropical in Southwest Florida. He has lived in Tennessee since 2014. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas .
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hundreds of Venezuelans protest for freedom and fair election results in their homeland
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