LOS ANGELES (United For Colombia Foundation) - "Trying to sing the pain away... COLOMBIA is a country known for both terrific music and terrible violence. Now a group of artists led by Juanes, the country's international superstar, are joining forces for a Los Angeles concert to try to use music to help relieve the suffering caused by Colombia's 40-year-old civil war... 'Right now, the most important thing we can do is to help alert the world about what's happening in Colombia,'
Juanes said. 'The idea is to use music as a form of mass communication to say, 'Hey, we're here and we need help.'... An estimated 120,000 land mines have been deployed in the country just in the last six years, claiming three victims every day. The buried bombs are used by guerrillas and drug traffickers, who are often allied, to protect coca fields and guerrilla encampments. All proceeds from the concert, which sold out in five hours, will go to aid the victims, most of whom are from poor, rural areas. Half of all civilian victims are children, according to UNICEF... [the fundraising effort will] help restore victims to some level of health and self-sufficiency, through prosthetics for lost limbs, physical and psychological therapy and job training. Money is also needed for education campaigns to teach civilians how to avoid the deadly booby traps that surround them"– Los Angeles Times, 5/18/06
In order to raise money for children victimized by antipersonnel mines in his native Colombia, Latin rock's leading social activist Juanes has organized the "Colombia sin Minas" ("Colombia Without Mines") benefit concert. Taking place May 24th at the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles, the SOLD-OUT concert will be a special night of all acoustic music with ALEJANDRO SANZ, ANA GABRIEL, CARLOS VIVES, JUAN LUIS GUERRA, LAURA PAUSINI, LUIS FONSI, RICARDO MONTANER and JUANES.
In the last 15 years 4,500 people in Colombia have died as a result of stepping on anti-personal mines and many of these victims have been children from the countryside. The explosions of these mines also permanently disable over 1000 additional people per year. With the number of annual victims increasing each of the last several years, the figures of those killed and wounded already in 2006 show the likelihood of the most devastating year yet. The "Colombia sin Minas" concert of May 24 intends to denounce this abuse, advocate for the protection of the public from this danger and directly assist 500 disabled Colombian children that are in constant need of new prosthetics (legs, arms, hands) as they continue to grow.
The "Colombia sin Minas" concert is being produced by Juanes' recently started Mi Sangre (My Blood) Foundation, with the support of the Observatorio de Minas Antipersonal (Antipersonnel Mine Observatory) office of the Vice-president of Colombia, and the United for Colombia foundation. The concert is receiving sponsor support from the KLVE-FM radio station of Los Angeles, The Univision Television Network, The Colombia Coffee Federation, American Airlines, and Redbull.
