Veterans, anti -war activists protest at Air Command Center against war on Venezuela

Tucson, AZ – Three progressive Veterans organizations and others joined the Tucson Anti-War Committee outside the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on Veterans Day, November 11, to protest the Trump administration’s war escalations on Venezuela. The group of nearly two dozen protesters received many more supportive honks from passing cars than in previous years – a sign that the tide has shifted as more Americans are fed up with the endless war machine.

With signs reading “No blood for oil” and “Hands off Venezuela,” the group heard from veterans and anti-war organizers.

Melissa Cordero, an organizer with Common Defense, shared that she’s a veteran of three combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, stating, “I still don’t know what we were allegedly doing there. For what? And here we go again.”

Cordero added, “I’m from Guam and there are only two options to get off the island and one of them is the military. Guam puts more people to the U.S. military than any other U.S. city. They don’t give a damn about that island, it’s just strategic.”

Jim Driscoll, a Vietnam War veteran and member of Veterans for Peace Local 13, said “war is not helpful for any living thing and we should avoid it.” Driscoll added “to have the advances like Cuba in the hemisphere, the United States just can’t stand it.”

James Jordan from the Alliance for Global Justice and Venezuela Solidarity Network said, “the United States is working overdrive to overturn the governments of South America to the center-right and far-right and they’ve already achieved that in Perú. When it comes to Venezuela, we can’t let a flip flopper set the agenda. We can stop this war and this happening all over the country and world. Together, we stop this empire.”

“Davis-Monthan is home to the U.S. SOUTHCOM, which claims its ‘Area of Responsibility’ as all 31 nations of the Caribbean and Latin America. The SOUTHCOM Air Command leads the coordination of these murderous missile strikes on hardworking fishing people in the Caribbean. Tucson has a direct connection to Trump’s escalating threats on Venezuela,” said Jim Byrne, an organizer with the Tucson Anti-War Committee.

As part of the International Call for a Week of Action against the War on Venezuela, the Tucson Anti-War Committee and others will be holding an action outside of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on November 22 to continue to raise awareness that the base is home for the missile strikes on fishing boats and the air war on Venezuela.

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