Dallas Hands Off Venezuela webinar viewing

Dallas, TX – DFW Anti-War Committee hosted a January 11 watch party for the Anti War Action Network’s report back webinar “No to Trump’s War on Venezuela!” The webinar featured anti-war organizers who recently traveled to Caracas, Venezuela for a peace conference to build international solidarity and stand up to U.S. imperialism. A banner calling for “No war on Venezuela” was also painted during the watch party.

Allison Gunderson of the Minneapolis Anti-War Committee and Women Against Military Madness, who was part of the delegation, said, “Seeing President Maduro speak about building solidarity with Palestine and Cuba, speaking about real, tangible ways to give power back to the people, it has been disgusting coming back to the U.S. and seeing Trump’s rhetoric about war and division. I couldn’t think of a more stark comparison about how Venezuela does not reflect the United States.”

Jim Byrne from Tucson Anti-War Committee said, “It was a real honor to be able to participate in the workers congress.” He mentioned that in attendance to the congress was Alex Saab, the former Venezuelan Minister of Industry and National Production who was held captive by the Trump administration and later freed from pressure from activists across the United States as part of the campaign to “Free Alex Saab!”

Jim Byrne continued by saying, “At the congress, the workers presented a proposal in what they called a ‘constituent assembly’ calling for all trade unionist representatives to be active on the shop floor. They would work in those places and be subject to immediate recall.” He concluded by saying, “Unions are integrated into the national plan for resistance so that every workplace with a union participates in defending against U.S. aggression.”

Jessica Plichta from Grand Rapids Opponents of War, who was recently publicly arrested for standing up against Trump’s violent kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the weeks after the conference, concluded, “If we fight one struggle, we fight them all!”

Josh Rudd with the DFW Anti-War Committee remarked, “This watch party was a great opportunity to learn more about Venezuela and to hear from people who had first-hand experience in the country. DAWC is currently working on a Stop the Bombs Garland campaign against the Repkon bomb factory that makes the U.S. arsenal that the Trump regime is threatening to use on Venezuela and now Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia.”

Rudd continued, “We will be responding to AWAN’s call to action by having a banner drop in Dallas on Saturday, January 17 from 3 to 5 p.m. Check out our Instagram to get involved and help us call for ‘No War On Venezuela.’”

Anti War Action Network will be hosting another webinar on Saturday, January 17 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time featuring Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza, former Consul General of the Venezuelan Consulate in Chicago, for on-the-ground analysis from Venezuela.

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