Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, the ubiquitous music is salsa, cumbia, merengue, a little bit of samba.
My father is Spanish, and he went to Venezuela looking for a job. He was 20 something, and he fell in love with a Venezuelan girl. He owns a company there, producing iron and bronze.
Venezuelans have a long history. So we are able to listen to each other, to talk to each other. From here were born the liberators of the region, and they said before and after that process we have a culture of political action. We are not in despair. That's the image broadcast to abroad.
I was always following my brothers. If my brothers hadn't played, I never would have picked up a racket. Tennis isn't the most popular sport in Venezuela.
At some point in your life, if you live in Venezuela, you come across or own a cuatro. Either at school, either at camp, either at a friend's house, at a birthday or Christmas or bar mitzvah, you end up with a cuatro. It's like a must.
Venezuelan baseball is more aggressive, more passionate, more exciting. The fans are not the same as in your native country.
We're proud of Venezuela and Venezuelan baseball. People in America don't realize it, but we've got 25, 30 million people here, and so many of us love baseball. This is a great place to look for talent.
My husband is from Venezuela and he cries when he needs to cry!
For me, Venezuela is very important, not just because it's a place I go to conduct, but because my family is there - my wife, my parents and my musical family.
I was about three years old when I started playing in Venezuela with my two older brothers. They're 12 and 11 years older, so I was always the little one.
