KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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Kelfel Aqui and his band Son Venezuela have been spreading joy from Lawrence to Kansas City for 31 years.
Aqui was born and raised in Venezuela and moved to the United States to attend the University of Kansas.
In 1984, Aqui and his peers at KU formed Son Venezuela.
The once strictly Latin-folk band has since evolved to cover more genres. Son Venezuela was recently recognized in the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.
“I started playing Venezuelan music and being part of the joy," Aqui said of his day Saturday, Jan. 3.
Aqui said he was woken by a phone call at 3 a.m. His close friend in Venezuela told him the United States captured the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.
“I started waking up people, too," Aqui said. "I hope they are not mad at me because of that. I am not mad about being woken up at 3 in the morning with such good news.”
Aqui said ever since the news broke, he's been glued to his phone and television, except for when he's strumming on his traditional Venezuelan cuatro instrument.
“That’s a song about it’s a new day, it’s a new beginning and I’m happy," he said on Sunday.
Aqui does not consider Maduro the president of Venezuela.
“He’s not a president, he’s a dictator that was the leader of a narco-terrorist gang," Aqui said.
While Aqui believes there is joy following Maduro's capture, he said there is also concern.
“The job is not done," he said. "Kind of like chop the head off, but the whole snake is still there."
He said he watched displaced Venezuelans around the world celebrate the capture of Maduro on Saturday, but he said those he knows in Venezuela are staying put in their homes.
“Venezuela is not liberated, but at least Venezuela is liberated of Maduro," he said.
Aqui played his cuatro a second time, singing along as he strummed.
“The last line is, ‘And I burst with the need to sing,'" he said.
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