Venezuelan band Rawayana announced Tuesday night (Dec. 3) that its tour scheduled for this month in Venezuela was canceled, two days after President Nicolas Maduro criticized its recent hit “Veneka” as an insult to Venezuelan women.
The announcement also comes months after the trippy-pop group openly expressed its stance against the Maduro government following the disputed July 28 presidential election.
“Our Venezuela tour CANCELED,” Rawayana wrote in a post on Instagram, explaining that ”this is how we say goodbye to our country until further notice. Our music is not made to divide.” The band also thanked its followers and asked them to be on the lookout for ticket refunds.
“Someday we’ll get together again. Now watch us conquer the world!” added the band, which just last month won its first Latin Grammy, for best pop song for “Feriado,” and received a Grammy nomination for best Latin rock or alternative album for ¿Quién Trae Las Cornetas?
Rawayana’s canceled concerts in Venezuela were scheduled for Dec. 13-29, and included dates in Caracas, Mérida, San Cristóbal, Maracaibo, Valencia, Barquisimeto, Lechería and Margarita Island.
It was not specified if the group canceled the tour, or if it was the government. “For security issues and protection of our allies, I don’t want to give statements,” Rawayana frontman Alberto “Beto” Montenegro told Billboard Español Wednesday (Dec. 4). “What is evident doesn’t require much explanation.”
On Sunday (Dec. 1), during a speech at an event called Toma de Caracas, Maduro fiercely criticized Rawayana’s song “Veneka,” which has given a positive tone to a term considered derogatory. The song also became a viral hit on social media since its October release. “The women of Venezuela are called dignity, respect and are called Venezuelans, they are not venekas,” Maduro said. “The group that made that song as insulting, as derogatory, as horrible as ‘Veneka,’ screwed up.”
In July, when the Venezuelan electoral authority declared Maduro the winner with 51.2% of the votes (although it has not shown the documents that support the results), the opposition denounced irregularities in the count and claimed that its candidate, Edmundo González, had obtained almost 70% of the votes, Rawayana was among the many Venezuelan artists in exile who reacted to the political situation in their country.
“Venezuela has been living a great fraud for many years … an ideological, moral and ethical fraud,” Montenegro told Billboard at the time. “Unfortunately we are not surprised by another electoral fraud, we have already seen it all.”
Rawayana’s Tuesday night post — which in addition to the brief statement also includes photographs of the band’s early days in Venezuela, at the Latin Grammy red carpet and performing at a massive concert — generated dozens of reactions from major names in entertainment, media and politics.
“A new announcement will be soon. In Freedom!!!” opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been under protection since August due to threats against her integrity, wrote in the comments section.
Danny Ocean, Elena Rose and Mau y Ricky — who were featured on the October cover of Billboard Español‘s Music from Exile: Venezuelan Voices Find Purpose in the Fight for Their Country — also responded to their compatriots’ announcement.
“Soon you will sing and we will all go to be there with you,” expressed Danny.
“There is no darkness that can stop the love we want to give to our country. Soon we will be back. For now with faith, we go on,” wrote Elena Rose.
Mau and Ricky, who had planned to share the stage with Rawayana for their first performance in their native country, wrote: “We had the illusion of going up there to sing with you for the first time there. Our dream will come true!!!! Sending hugs.”
In the United States, the band — up for a Grammy at the Feb. 2 ceremony — is confirmed for Coachella 2025, which will take place on the weekends of April 11-13 and 18-20 in Indio, Calif.
Check out Rawayana’s statement on the tour cancellation below:
