--- description: Over 30 musicians came together to cover the Ruben Blades classic, Prohibido Olvidar, to protest the Maduro regime. title: Venezuelan Musicians Speak Out with Ruben Blades Cover image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Venezuela](/tag/venezuela/) ## Venezuela Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Venezuelan Musicians Protest Repression with a Smoking Cover of Ruben Blades by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 5, 2017 9:38 AM CUT by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 5, 2017 9:38 AM CUT As clashes between government security forces and protestors critical of the current government continue in Venezuela, a group of musicians have decided to make their thoughts known by [making a version](http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/7850284/ruben-blades-cover-prohibido-olvidar-venezuela "undefined") of _Prohibido Olvidar_, the 1991 song about repressive politics by singer Ruben Blades. _Billboard_ reports that trombonist Johsir Cordova convened a group of over 30 performers to produce the cover, retitled _Prohibido Olvidar Venezuela_ (“Forgetting Venezuela is Forbidden”), which was [uploaded](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAerku9Fc9A "undefined") last week to YouTube. At least 75 people have died so far in the [months-long](http://time.com/4810280/venezuela-caracas-protest-teenager/ "undefined") [anti-government](http://time.com/4762655/venezuela-protest-maduro-constitution-assembly/ "undefined") [protests.](http://time.com/4838468/venezuela-helicopter-supreme-court-attack/ "undefined") Inflation has [gone out of control](http://time.com/4637285/venezuela-bolivar-currency-inflation/?xid=time%5Fsocialflow%5Ftwitter "undefined"), and social order [appears to be collapsing](http://time.com/venezuela-photographers/ "undefined"). “In Venezuela we are undergoing a very difficult time,” singer Rafael “Pollo” Brito [reportedly told](https://elpitazo.com/ultimas-noticias/video-musicos-venezolanos-rinden-tributo-a-los-caidos-con-la-cancion-prohibido-olvidar/ "undefined") El Pitazo, a Venezuelan news site. ‘We cannot forget absolutely anything.” \[[Billboard](http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/7850284/ruben-blades-cover-prohibido-olvidar-venezuela "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4844818/venezuela-ruben-blades-cover-prohibido-olvidar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4844818/venezuela-ruben-blades-cover-prohibido-olvidar/"},"headline":"Venezuelan Musicians Protest Repression with a Smoking Cover of Ruben Blades","datePublished":"2017-07-05T09:38:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:25:54.172Z","description":"More than 30 prominent musicians have come together to protest the Maduro regime","url":"https://time.com/4844818/venezuela-ruben-blades-cover-prohibido-olvidar/","keywords":["Venezuela","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/venezuela/","name":"Venezuela"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4844818/venezuela-ruben-blades-cover-prohibido-olvidar/","name":"Venezuelan Musicians Protest Repression with a Smoking Cover of Ruben Blades"}}]}] ```