A throng of protesters converged on the doorstep of the United States Permanent Mission to the United Nations to denounce the aggressive attempted coup orchestrated by the Trump administration. On Monday, Feb. 4, the December 12th Movement led a rally spotlighting the intensifying interference in the domestic affairs of the sovereign nation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
“We are here to stop the Trump coup in Venezuela. Donald Trump’s intervention in Venezuela violates the United Nations Charter and international law. President Nicolás Maduro was democratically elected by the people of Venezuela. We are here to expose U.S. sanctions against the Venezuelan masses. U.S. secretary of state has finally told the truth—the U.S. wants control of Venezuela’s oil. They want to steal oil, discredit socialism and carry out regime change in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba,” declared international human rights attorney, Roger S. Wareham.
“As African people we’ve benefited from the subsidized oil that Venezuela has provided our communities in the U.S., the Caribbean and in Africa. As African people we know from direct experience the exploitation and terror inflicted on Black people by the U.S. government. We know that if the U.S. succeeds in Venezuela, it will ramp up its efforts to overthrow the government of Zimbabwe under President Mnangagwa, the only African country which has had the audacity to return to its people the land stolen by white supremacist colonizers,” he explained.
At the United Nations Security Council meeting on Venezuela held Jan. 26, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened, “Now it’s time for every other nation to pick a side. No more delays, no more games. Either you stand with the forces of freedom or you’re in league with Maduro.” Many nations, including Russia, China, Cuba, Mexico, and nations throughout South America, the Caribbean and Africa, have courageously stood up in support of Maduro and the Venezuelan peoples’ right to self determination.
Participants at the U.S. Mission rally included Viola Plummer, chairperson of the December 12th International Secretariat; Pam Africa of the Friends and Family of Mumia Abu Jamal; Dahoud Andre, Haitian activist; radio host Nellie Hester Bailey of the Black Agenda Report; Kim Ives of Haïti Liberté; Jaime Mendieta of Casa de las Americas; Rashakhan Ali of Nation Time Judicial Research; and many others.
Chimhwi Brown, a youth activist leader in the December 12th Movement, stated, “As you can see this is another example of how the U.S. likes to divide and conquer a country’s leadership that they do not want in power. They want to put a person in place to try and take their resources which is really what Venezuelans need to survive each and every day in its ongoing struggle against imperialism. It is happening all over the world. It’s happening in Haiti, in Zimbabwe, and in every place where the people are struggling to use their own resources for themselves and imperialists are trying to take them away. Because they know if we control our own resources we can overthrow the imperialist system. So we are out here today to send a message to the U.S. to tell them that we are Venezuela, and that we are trying to make a difference in this world today. We are Venezuela!”
The clarion call is “Stay in the streets! U.S. Hands Off Venezuela! We are all Venezuelans! Stop Trump/Bolton Coup Now!
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