Minneapolis demands U.S. hands off Venezuela

Minneapolis, MN – On a chilly Nov. 18, a group of over 70 protesters gathered outside Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office in downtown Minneapolis to demand that she stand against President Trump’s attacks against Venezuela.

Venezuela has been in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialism for decades. The U.S. has used sanctions for over 20 years in an attempt to overthrow former President Hugo Chavez and current President Nicolas Maduro. The U.S. has also backed multiple coup attempts against Chavez and Maduro. Trump is now escalating both his rhetoric and military violence against Venezuela. Protesters waved Venezuelan flags and held banners and signs as they participated in an international week of action in solidarity with Venezuela.

The Trump administration has killed at least 88 people in 20 recent military attacks on Venezuelan fishing ships. Trump claims these are “drug smuggling” boats, when in reality these attacks were on poor Venezuelan fishermen just trying to make a living. The U.S. military is continuing to grow its military force in the Caribbean with the hopes of being able and ready to strike. 15,000 soldiers and sailors have been sent into the region, and most recently the U.S. Navy has flown out the largest American aircraft carrier, the Ford, previously housed in the Mediterranean Sea.

Venezuela is home to the largest oil reserves in the world, oil that is being used to improve the lives of everyday Venezuelans under the Maduro government, instead of lining the pockets of wealthy U.S. oil giants.

Drake Myer, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Minnesota Federation of Educators, has also traveled to Venezuela on a solidarity delegation. Mayer stated, “When I was a child the U.S. government killed half a million or more children in Iraq with sanctions and then they bombed the country and invaded it, because they said Sadam Hussein was a terrorist leader and had WMDs. It turned out to be a war for oil and killed millions more over the years. U.S. soldiers are still there killing people and stealing oil even though Iraqis have voted over and over again for them to leave. Now here we are 20 years later.”

Myer continued, “There’s some attempt to lie about it, making up cartels that don’t exist and saying Venezuelans are all narcoterrorists, but no one even buys it. It’s about oil. Trump says it’s about oil, Maduro says it’s about oil.”

The emcee for the event was Sarah Martin of Women Against Military Madness. Martin said, “I visited in 2018 when life was very difficult. Hyperinflation was on the decline but still making life very difficult. Products were beginning to appear on shelves but there were dangerous and life threatening shortages of medicine and food. And the U.S. was in the midst of once again trying to destabilize the regime. When we arrived the electrical system had just been sabotaged by the U.S. and there was a nationwide blackout which lasted for days. How did Venezuelans respond? They organized and worked together to make sure everyone got water and food and checked on their neighbors to be sure they were alright. They held block parties every night. Instead of demanding Maduro leave office, they marched in the millions in support of him.”

Tracy Molm of the Climate Justice Committee also spoke to the crowd about her time in Venezuela during the 2018 attempted coup by U.S. backed Juan Guido, “At the end of April 2019 I joined 4 million Venezuelans to celebrate May Day, International Workers Day. Four months prior, Trump, then in his first term, declared Juan Guido to be ‘president of Venezuela’ despite him being mostly unknown within the country. A day or two prior to May Day that year Guido attempted a coup that fell flat on its face.”

Molm continued, “While we were in Venezuela we met with government and local organizers who showed us the achievements they are working towards despite the U.S. intervention. A food program that is built to ensure that no Venezuelan goes hungry providing food staples to a large section of the population; active dialog tents that encourage people to come and discuss the pressing issues of the day; housing that has been provided to all people at low or no cost.”

The action was organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition as a part of a week of action called by the United National Antiwar Coalition and the Anti War Action Network.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #AWCMN #MNPAC #UNAC #AWAN