Venezuelan comedian booed at Viña del Mar Festival: organizers say xenophobia

The audience at the Viña del Mar International Festival , one of the most important in Latin America, is known as “the monster” for booing artists. This Sunday, on the opening night of the event, they woke up quickly. After Marc Anthony’s applauded performance, Venezuelan comedian George Harris appeared, previously announced to the applause of most of the 15,000 attendees. For two minutes he thanked everyone for the welcome and highlighted the large number of flags of his country. Three minutes into his performance, however, the atmosphere changed. After finishing his first joke, instead of laughter, there were boos and, although they stopped at times, the Caracas native living in the United States left the stage after arguing with those who were unhappy with his work. The incident has sparked debate on social media and in the media about the tension caused by xenophobia against Venezuelans. The festival itself considers that Harris experienced an episode of racism.

In the stands, groups of Venezuelans also walked out in protest. Some accused the Chileans of being xenophobic, while experts argued that the material was not good and that Harris, as has happened with several comedians in the past, was simply devoured by the monster . Harris has shone on the Latin stages of the United States and also in Spain, with routines very oriented to the Venezuelan public and with light content. Lately, she has lent her platform to the cause of the Venezuelan opposition.

Harris's presentation had a preamble of predisposition and threats. When it was announced that he would be part of the festival, a tweet was resurrected on social media in which he said: “And there are a lot of people out there who still cry for Allende. What a poor, wicked mind!” accompanied by a video of a women's protest in 1971, during the socialist's mandate. A routine in which he attacked President Gabriel Boric was also spread. The statements caused such unrest that it was even considered that he would not participate, but finally he apologized and continued with the task of being the first of the six comedians in the contest.

At the press conference before his presentation, he reiterated that he had made a mistake, but he pointed out: “I want to remind you where I come from. We are fleeing from a political situation that has been in the country for 25 years, so Venezuelans say ‘we don’t like’ anything that sounds like one side, one trend.” The comedian, the organizers pointed out, was on the verge of withdrawing from the festival after feeling affected by the avalanche of criticism, death threats and hate messages he received on his social networks before Viña del Mar.

The hosts Karen Doggenweiler and Rafael Araneda introduced him at around 11:30 p.m. as a comedian of international stature, with 20 years of experience. “Because good comedy is universal” and “good humor has no borders” were the words to announce him. Harris arrived energetic. He said that it was one of his dreams to participate in the festival and thanked the audiences of Chile and Venezuela. His routine, however, only convinced the second group. “I can't believe that people buy a ticket to whistle all night, they're going to go deaf,” he said a few minutes later, referring to his detractors.

“Whoever doesn’t like it, go buy a soda or an empanada. You’re going to be there all night, shh, get up Venezuelan, faggot. What’s wrong with you? Are you going to be there all night whistling at me? That’s why you’re going to be alone, asshole. Get up Venezuelan, have a girlfriend, have a life, have a girlfriend, damn it,” he continued, spinning a speech similar to his usual routines. Harris was apparently speaking to a group in the area closest to the stage. “There are monsters here,” he said, pointing at them, “but they roar over there,” he added, referring to the gallery, where his Venezuelan audience was concentrated.

On two occasions, the comedian interrupted his routine to leave the stage, but the hosts intervened to get him to continue. They even advised him to be faster. In one of the hosts' interventions, Harris told them: “Not even Xuxa suffered so much,” recalling the bad experience of the Brazilian singer on that same stage. His defense could be an attempt to make a joke of his own tragedy. “It's that you started to fight, don't fight,” Araneda replied. “There's no need to fight with the Chileans, if we always win, all the fights are won by the Chileans,” added Doggenweiler.

Social media was ablaze with criticism and, of course, jokes. Among Chileans, the participation was considered rude and defiant. For Venezuelans, the booing was an act of xenophobia. Chilean comedian Fabrizio Copano wrote on X: “So it is Venezuelan to return when they ask you to leave.” He then added that he was referring to Nicolás Maduro. In the last five years, the Venezuelan population in Chile has increased from 344,506 to 728,586 in 2023, which implies an increase of 111.5%. Pressure on migrants has raised tensions. Verbal attacks, isolated incidents involving physical violence and specific restrictions for Venezuelan fans – such as those imposed on the purchase of tickets for the Vinotinto team’s games in the country – have been reported on social media in recent years.

Viña del Mar has been plagued by such friction. Asked about what happened with Harris, Alex Hernandez, executive director of the Viña del Mar Festival, said this morning: “Of course there was xenophobia,” he said. “There was a group of Venezuelans who were upstairs and were attacked by a small group of Chileans and I want to be very emphatic, it was a small, misplaced group,” he said.

When Harris left the stage, the production decided that he would not participate in the backstage area, a space dedicated to the artist talking about his first impressions after his participation. There was no press conference either. Together with his team and his mother, Irene Shaw, the comedian went to the hotel where he is staying. A group of Venezuelans gathered outside the venue to give him support. “Gather dollars so they can leave. Gather dollars,” Shaw said through the window to his compatriots, in an apparent allusion to them gathering the money to leave Chile. Later on his social networks he wrote:

“We did what we could, my people. I am very sorry.”

In Viña del Mar, comedians perform among the artists who perform each night at the festival. A few years ago, after the failure of Chilean comedian Javiera Contador, the debate intensified between those who believe that the public should respect the work of the comedian and remain silent if they do not like the routine, and those who defend that the artists know what they are getting into when they sign the contract and must abide by the rules of the festival game.