Milwaukee rally demands: “Hands off Venezuela”

Milwaukee, WI – On Saturday, November 22, around 30 people gathered at Milwaukee City Hall to demand U.S. hands off Venezuela. They brought Venezuelan flags and signs with messages such as “From Caracas to Jenin, stop the U.S. war machine” and “No blood for oil.”

The rally, led by the Milwaukee Anti-War Committee (MAC), was in conjunction with the call to action by the Anti-War Action Network, United National Anti-war Coalition, and other national organizations.

The call to action was declared after the U.S. murdered nearly 45 people in military airstrikes on Venezuelan fishing boats for alleged drug trafficking at the same time that federal troops and ICE agents are carrying out mass raids and deportations. The action made connections about how the U.S. war machine is attacking people in Venezuela and within the U.S. More than 70 events were put on all across the country in response to the call to action.

The event opened with remarks from emcee James Oldenburg, who stated, “Bombing civilians of another country is a war crime. We oppose this war just like we opposed the last war, because this is about U.S. imperialism and nothing else. It’s the same old thing we’ve seen before – the real answer is this is about oil.”

Kayla Kuo, a member of the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee stated, “In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq with its ‘shock and awe’ bombing campaign that literally cleared the path for U.S. troops to occupy the country. The invasion of Iraq was justified under the false notion that Saddam Huseein was stashing weapons of mass destruction. Yet, no weapons were ever found.”

Kuo continued, “More than 170,000 troops ruthlessly defended the U.S. and participated in the destruction and death of millions of people, all so that the U.S. could steal its oil! In fact, there are still U.S. troops in Iraq.”

Chris Van Valkenberg of Freedom Road Socialist Organization told the crowd, “As Trump threatens to unleash the national guard in our cities and bomb Venezuela, it is clear he doesn’t care about the people here or abroad. He strives to protect the ruling class as they do whatever they damn well please.”

Valkenberg added that the Trump administration plans to designate the entire Venezuelan government as a terrorist organization this upcoming week.

Eric Kleppe-Montenegro, a Colombian community member, delivered a speech in Spanish. He pointed out that Marco Rubio, who has gone on record falsely labeling the Venezuelan government as “narco-terrorists,” himself has documented narco-trafficking links through his in-laws. Kleppe-Montenegro said that Colombians have taken to calling Rubio “Narco Rubio.”

In between speeches, the participants chanted in support of Venezuelan sovereignty, shouting, “1, 2, 3, 4! Intervention no more!” “No blood for oil! U.S. off Venezuelan soil” “¡Se ve, se siente! El pueblo está presente!”, and “No troops on the ground! No bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!” Accompanied by a drum, the chants rang out in the busy downtown intersection. As they were speaking and chanting, cars passing by honked in support.

This was the first hands off Venezuela event put on by MAC, but with the aggression towards Venezuela by the U.S., it will not be the last. As the Trump administration increases its attacks and ramps up propaganda against Venezuela, Milwaukee will take to the streets to resist and educate about the real danger in the world – the U.S. war machine.

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #MAC #AWAN