Los Angeles, June 06: Rock guitarist Carlos Santana on
Thursday pledged the proceeds of his summer tour -- estimated at up
to 3 million dollars -- to battling AIDS as South African Archbishop
Desmond Tutu predicted the disease may prove more devastating to his
country than the scourge of apartheid.
''Join us in spreading a spiritual virus -- a masterpiece of joy
on this planet,'' said Santana, joined by his wife, Deborah Santana
and Tutu, in announcing the gesture, which is expected to raise an
estimated 2.5 to 3 million dollars.
Proceeds of the 2003 US Shaman tour, consisting of 23 concert
shows, will go to the artists for a new South Africa, a group formed
in the late 1980s to support the economic sanctions aimed at
toppling South Africa's then white-ruled apartheid regime.
Representatives of the group, including actress Alfre Woodard and
Samuel L Jackson, as well as the Nobel peace prize-winning Tutu,
joined Santana in announcing the pledge yesterday.
''We had a scourge ... And it was apartheid. We defeated it,''
said Tutu at the conference in Beverly Hills.
''But now we have another scourge. It is a disease, HIV/AIDS,
which in fact may succeed where apartheid failed. If we don't
fight HIV, it might decimate our people,'' he said.
Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) has lately turned its
focus to supporting organizations fighting AIDS on the front
lines in South Africa as the disease has reached pandemic
proportions in the region.
Each day, 1,600 South Africans become infected and 600 more lose
their lives from aids-related illnesses.
Bureau Report
