Vive Latino 2022: María Elena Ríos, saxophonist attacked with acid, played with the Maldita Vecindad

The saxophonist María Elena Ríos, who was attacked with acid in 2019, shared the stage with the group Maldita Vecindad during the closing of the first day of the Vive Latino Festival 2022, which is taking place at the Sol Forum in Mexico City. During the first minutes of March 20, the Mexican band began their performance on a stage with more than 80,000 people.

One of the most pleasant surprises for the public was seeing and listening to the Mixtec saxophonist accompany the Mexican band that fuses rhythms such as rock, ska, reggae and reggae influences of Mexican music such as danzón and bolero. Through social networks, some clips began to circulate in which María Elena captivated the public.

Although so far the saxophonist has not spoken about her experience of participating with the Cursed Neighborhood and the Children of the Fifth Courtyard, she has used her official Twitter account to share all the videos and photographs that the attendees took during her presentation and some took the opportunity to congratulate her on her participation. on the Indian stage.

“Grande María Elena Ríos”, “Woman in one piece”, “The thing about Maldida Vecindad and Elena Ríos will go down in history, I am amazed at how badly musicians are and everything they represent for Mexico”, “What a ching*n and what strength is needed to, despite the tragedies, get ahead and bravely face the challenges that life will face puts!” and “Elena Ríos, the woman to whom something terrible happened and is still an extraordinary, beautiful and very talented woman”, were some of the comments she received on social networks.

In addition, images alluding to the mural in Iztapalapa that artist Pedro Peña Reyes made in honor of the Oaxacan interpreter were placed at the entrance to the forum. It should be noted that, just last March 6th, María Elena returned to the stage as a guest in the concert that Alejandro Robles gave, with the Regional Women's Band of the Floral Wind, in the mixe region of Oaxaca.

However, this is not the first time she has collaborated with the Maldita Vecindad, since on October 1, 2021, a new version of the song Chacahua was made, in which the saxophonist participated and was dedicated to the peoples of Oaxaca and the Afro-Mexican community.

In an interview with El Universal, María Elena reported that the band's guitarist contacted her to invite her to collaborate. “They have told me that it is with great respect, with affection and to make visible what happened to me. I complained to them about everything that happened to me. They are very good people, very nice people,” he said.

In June 2021, the Attorney General's Office of the State of Oaxaca (FGEO) issued a search form to locate Juan Antonio Vera Hernández, El Junior, son of former PRI deputy and gas station entrepreneur, Juan Vera Carrizal, for being one of the alleged masterminds of the acid attack on the saxophonist Maria Elena Rios.

The Oaxacan authorities specified in the file that he is wanted for attempted femicide and reported that they offer a reward of up to one million pesos for truthful information that leads to his whereabouts and facilitates his capture. According to the local press, Vera Hernandez, on her father's orders, hired two construction workers to attack the saxophonist.

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