Caracas, October 18 (RHC)-- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro participated in the inauguration of the 2024 edition of the “Arturo Michelena” Fine Arts Salon in the state of Carabobo, where 259 paintings created by artists from across the country are on display.

At the 67th Edition of the cultural event, corresponding to the year 2025, previous artists from the BRICS countries will attend the meeting.   The news was announced at the inauguration of the 66th Edition that took place this Thursday at the “Arturo Michelena” Plastic Arts Hall, located in the Museum of Culture, in Carabobo state.

At this year's event, the Bolivarian leader urged Venezuelan artists to follow the example of Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso and called for resistance against “culturicide” while advocating for peace in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries.

“Let no one be intimidated or give up.  Let a thousand works of art emerge for Palestine and Lebanon, and for peace, harmony, tolerance, and the future of humanity. Let no remain stay silent!  Let the brushes speak!  Let poetry speak!” President Maduro said.

“They already did this in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya.  They hate Arab peoples and want to exterminate them,” the Bolivarian leader emphasized, using the term “culturicide” to highlight the intangible effects of imperialist aggression on the peoples of the world.

“Although genocide is barbaric and irreparable… the greatest harm is not only the sacrifice of human lives but the culturicide, meaning the extermination of whole cultures,” Venezuelan Culture Minister Ernesto Villegas said, adding that the term “culturicide” was coined by Argentine political analyst Eugenio Zaffaroni.

President Maduro’s words come at a time when Israel continues to perpetrate genocide against the Palestinian people. 

Since October 2023, the Israeli occupation army has killed 42,438 Palestinians and injured 99,246 people in Gaza.  This death toll does not include the tens of thousands of bodies that still remain under the rubble of buildings bombed by Zionist forces.