HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!
In anticipation of a potential border incident that could trigger aggression from the imperialists and the state of Colombia, Venezuela is holding military exercises along the Venezuela-Colombia border until September 28. The reason is that Colombia is trying to provoke the US and its allies by spreading fake news saying that Colombian revolutionary guerrillas are taking refuge in Venezuela. The Vancouver Peace and Solidarity Committee of Vancouver (VPSC) condemns the propaganda, the militarization of the border and any plans for a military intervention against Venezuela.
The Colombian state led by President Ivan Duque is in crisis. After the peace treaty with a large revolutionary faction, FARC, disintegrated, FARC Commander Ivan Marquez announced on August 29 that FARC was taking up arms again and resuming guerrilla warfare in the jungles. The decades-old Colombian revolution seeks social liberation, decent living conditions and democracy. The Colombian state has one of the worst records in history of allowing paramilitary engagements and assassinating civil leaders such as union leaders and human rights advocates as well as guerrilla leaders. Many Colombians live in miserable conditions. It has used the campaign against drug lords as an excuse and has solicited the support of the US and allies. US and allied forces came up with Plan Colombia over 20 years ago and have maintained a military encirclement of Colombia. With the gains of the civil war peace process and the growth of the Right in South America, Colombian and allied forces have been manifesting along the Venezuela-Colombia border as part of the counter-revolutionary campaign against the Bolivarian leadership of Venezuela.
The VPSC stands against the militarization of the region, expresses staunch solidarity with the just struggles of people of the Colombia, and deplores the human rights abuses by the Colombian state. Moreover, we strongly oppose the complicity of the US and its allies in both meddling in the civil war in Colombia and supporting the repressive Colombian state, while we oppose the interference in Venezuelan affairs that aims to stir up a civil war inside Venezuela.
The VPSC calls for full diplomatic relations and privileges to be restored between Canada and Venezuela. We want an end to the economic war that is causing deprivation to the people. We reject the propaganda against Venezuela, namely that the President was illegitimately elected and there is a “humanitarian crisis” in Venezuela. It is the imposition of economic restrictions on Venezuela that is really the major cause of shortages of goods in Venezuela. Dangerous lies are being used to drum up support for sanctions, interference and possibly military intervention against Bolivarian Venezuela.
No more lies! Respect the democratic process and sovereignty of Venezuela! Diplomacy, not war!
As a group based in Canada, we condemn the Canadian state’s propaganda against Venezuela, its participation in executing the sanctions, and its role in orchestrating counter-revolution in Venezuela. Hand in hand with the US, the Government of Canada is hitting diplomatic ties with Venezuela. Canada has kicked out the Venezuelan Ambassador to Canada, though the Chargé d’Affaires is still running the Venezuelan Embassy in Canada. Venezuela has been forced to close its consular services in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal because Canada is refusing to renew diplomatic visas to Venezuela’s consular staff in Canada.
Again, Canada followed the US lead when the US shut down the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC, and arrested and charged some of the defenders of the Embassy.
Canada is a facilitator of building the Right-wing alliance of South America known as the Lima Group to oppose Bolivarian Venezuela; working in tandem with its US imperialist masters, it and other imperialist allies are spreading lies through corporate media and other channels about a false “humanitarian crisis” and vicious and illegitimate “dictatorship” while it supports the interference, coercive economic measures and destabilization efforts against Venezuela. Largely because of the economic embargo, the need for real humanitarian aid is growing; however, the imperialists including Canada blame the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro for causing a crisis.
Part of the counter-revolutionary strategy is to disturb Venezuelan-Cuban relations and attack the Cuban revolution. The US has been accusing Cuba of leading the revolution in Venezuela and running the Venezuelan Bolivarian armed forces. It says that the 20,000 Cubans in Venezuela at present are Cuban military personnel when they are, in fact, mostly women who are in Venezuela to carry out collaborative programs such as medical and educational services. Canada has lent a hand by making it more difficult for Cubans to get Canadian visas.
We call for an end to the repression and harassment against Venezuelan diplomats and diplomatic relations with Venezuela. We reject economic war, military planning and interference against Bolivarian Venezuela and all legitimate and democratic nations demonstrating alternatives to the imperialist model. We demand a return to diplomacy and negotiations. We want the Venezuelan Ambassador to Canada returned and diplomatic visas to Canada renewed. We want the legitimately elected and re-elected President Maduro and all his representatives abroad respected.
Stop the lies and interference in Venezuela and Cuba! Hands off Venezuela and Cuba!
We support the Venezuelan people, the peoples of Latin America and the Bolivarian movement by uniting in action to stop the imperialist interference, destabilization efforts including cyber-attacks, economic war including unilateral coercive measures, attacks on embassies and regime change schemes against Venezuela and its regional allies such as Cuba and Nicaragua.
Facebook: Venezuela Peace and Solidarity Committee of Vancouver
(Also, see Hugo Chávez People´s Defense Front/ Frente para la Defensa de los Pueblos Hugo Chávez)
JUST PEAce COMMITTEE 