AWAN event with Blanca Eekhout: ‘We are building a true democracy in Venezuela’

On the evening of Tuesday, September 23, a webinar was held by the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) to educate about the motive behind the recent attacks that Donald Trump has unleashed against Venezuela.

Within the past month, Trump has deployed a large military presence in the Caribbean Sea on the coast of Venezuela, under the guise of targeting “narcoterrorists,” specifically Tren de Aragua. The situation in the Caribbean escalated on September 2, when the U.S. military conducted an unprovoked strike on a vessel that killed eleven people. On September 16, the U.S. military attacked a Venezuelan fishing boat, killing three people. On both occasions, Trump touted his unfounded claim that the ships were carrying drugs to America. The international community has condemned these disgusting and illegal killings, calling the attacks extrajudicial executions.

Blanca Eekhout, the key speaker for Tuesday’s webinar, has a rich history in Venezuelan politics and the struggle against imperialism. She has previously served as the Minister of People’s Power for the Communes and Social Movements of Venezuela, a leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, and was a part of the late president Hugo Chávez’s political team. Eekhout is the current president of the Instituto Simón Bolívar for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples (ISB) which advocates for peace, solidarity, and human rights in Venezuela.

Eekhout shed some light on just how responsible Venezuela is for the drug crisis in America, citing a report from the United Nations: “Venezuela is a country with zero drug production.” Additionally, “87% of the drugs trafficked to the United States pass through the Pacific Ocean. Venezuela does not have a Pacific Coast, it only has the Atlantic coast and the Caribbean.”

Venezuela is one of the leaders in combating drug trafficking in the region, according to the UN. Venezuela has seized more than 56,000 tons of drugs, since they expelled the DEA from the country and are able to approach the issue on their own terms.

Eekhout explained it is impossible for Venezuela to operate a drug trafficking business, because “Venezuela is financially and physically blocked and sanctioned. America has stolen ships full of gasoline, planes, and other assets around the world. Venezuela has no opportunity to finance such a business.”

The U.S. is the home of the system that cultivates drugs, fosters trafficking around the world, and awards those that profit from it. Eekhout’s explanations reveal a glaring truth about America’s motivations in their actions against Venezuela, in that it has nothing to do with ending drug trafficking. Eekhout explains that one reason for the attacks is that America is after Venezuela’s rich oil reserves because they have exhausted their own energy reserves.

So, what is America’s strategy to steal Venezuela’s natural resources? According to Eekhout, the U.S. has a systematic method of initiating civil war in Venezuela so they can steal the natural resources from the region. Eekhout stated, “They’ve promoted an entire migration strategy and accused the Venezuelan migrant of being a foreign enemy. To be Venezuelan, according to these people, is to be a criminal, a monster, a cartel member – this is all a kind of xenophobia particular to the Venezuelan people that justifies the destruction of our country.”

Immigration from Venezuela increased due to the economically devastating sanctions and blockades that the U.S. began imposing on Venezuela in 2014. Trump lies and says that Venezuelan immigrants are dangerous cartel members that bring violence with them. The recent attacks on Venezuelan ships serve as false “proof” that drugs are being trafficked, and the U.S. military is merely keeping us “safe” from the dangerous criminals that want to invade America.

This manipulation may work on some, but there is a problem with U.S. plans for Venezuela, according to Eekhout, “They need war. They need to loot the towns, and if towns are at peace, they cannot do any looting, because we have mobilization amongst our citizens. They need war to be able to impose their own plunder and death.”

Eekhout said, “Above all, what we have, and what effectively turns us into a threat, is our model of democracy. We call this participatory democracy, and it is the people that are doing the governing. At this moment, we are creating a new system of government with over 5300 communes that govern themselves and rule over their own lands – and women are leading this entire process. We are building a true democracy in Venezuela, where a banker is not in charge, an oligarch is not in charge, it is the workers who are in charge. And to serve the people, we have a worker as president.”

The United States administration refuses to acknowledge President Nicolas Maduro as the leader of Venezuela, instead referring to him as the head of a drug cartel.

It makes sense that the U.S. would be threatened by Venezuela, because it represents everything that the Trump administration works to destroy: a mobilized working class, a strong base of women that shape the government, and a leader who works for the people. America is not targeting Venezuela because of the war on drugs, but because they feel threatened by a democratic nation that is governed for the people, not the corporate elite.

We stand in solidarity with Venezuela and its fight against American terrorism! AWAN will be keeping tabs on U.S. threats and attacks aimed at Venezuela in the future. Keep an eye out for emergency actions near you.

#International #Venezuela #AWAN #AntiWarMovement

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/awan-event-with-blanca-eekhout-we-are-building-a-true-democracy-in-venezuela?pk_campaign=rss-feed