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Tear Gas Doesn't Stop Venezuelan Protester From Playing The Violin In a video filmed during the ongoing protests in Caracas, 23-year-old Wuilly Arteaga can be seen playing the Venezuelan national anthem as tear gas billows around him.

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< Tear Gas Doesn't Stop Venezuelan Protester From Playing The Violin

Tear Gas Doesn't Stop Venezuelan Protester From Playing The Violin

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A video from Caracas, Venezuela, has been making the rounds online. It shows a young man, a bandana tied around his face, playing violin while tear gas canisters explode all around him.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

WUILLY ARTEAGA: (Playing violin).

MARTIN: People in Venezuela have been protesting their government for months. But Wuilly Arteaga cut such an unusual picture on the streets that the video went viral globally. In the clip, you can see some other protesters protecting him with their homemade cardboard shields as smoke billows around them.

ARTEAGA: (Through interpreter) I was playing the national anthem, and the protesters started protecting me. My music was like a gift for them, like the sound of hope.

MARTIN: The 23-year-old, self-taught musician was playing Venezuela's national anthem, which translates roughly as "Glory To The Brave People." At least 39 people have died and several hundred have been injured in the clashes.

ARTEAGA: (Through interpreter) Look, things here are sad. Venezuela is suffering right now with so much death. But rather than be angry with the government or with any one person, I always try to bring a message of peace.

MARTIN: Arteaga says he's gotten some backlash for using music as protest. He's gotten threatening messages and calls, but he thinks his music will help bring Venezuelans together.

ARTEAGA: (Through interpreter) There's no better time than now to be playing my music in the streets. This is where we need it the most, where we need music to have hope.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

ARTEAGA: (Playing violin).

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting in Spanish).

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