By Cort Greene
Speaking to thousands of supporters gathered outside the Miraflores
Palace, who were celebrating the second anniversary of the defeat of the coup, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez placed the blame for the coup at the doorsteps of the Whitehouse in
Washington saying, "It was the elite that governs the USA that attempted to impose
its will on the Venezuelan People at gunpoint."
His speech covered many topics and was carried on national television, President Chavez
accused the United States of imperialist aggression in Iraq, and President Bush of
orchestrating the coup. Repeating the well-known facts that U.S. ships were in Venezuelan
waters and US Navy planes landed in Maiquetia, thus violating Venezuelan sovereignty he
said, "We will not allow any interference in Venezuela from the hands of the U.S.
government."
The President said it would be he and not President Bush who will remain in office the
longest and that April 13, 2002 was a real demonstration of courage and popular
consciousness on the part of the people: "We must study the causes that brought about
April 11th and April 13 th and as a confrontation between those that think themselves
owners of the world and its inhabitants and us."
We here in the United States who are in solidarity with the Venezuelan revolution and
don't have the same interests of the ruling elites that run our government and military
must realize that there is also a unconventional War going on against Venezuela. There is
a "fifth column" of organizations supported by the US, working against the
revolutionary process in Venezuela. For example the Carter Center, which recently sided
with the electoral panel of the Venezuelan Supreme Court demanding that the 870,00
fraudulent signatures be considered valid for a recall election while the Court's
constitutional panel has ruled against accepting them. There is also the National
Endowment for Democracy (NED), which has been funding the so-called opposition but are
nothing but terrorist thugs. And of course there is the Catholic Church, the
oligarchy-controlled Venezuelan media, and Human Rights Watch, whose main interest is not
human rights but defending the military, political and economic interests of the United
States.
The US has been using threats and force not just to intimidate but also to demoralize and
subjugate. Threats like the one made by U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro after the last
coup, who said that it was fine to assassinate a President in order to change that
government's policy. Then there is the outright support in funds, training, and gunrunning
to terrorist groups like "F-4 Commandos" and "Comandos de la
Libertad", who are fighting the popularly elected government, and have worked out a
plan to invade Venezuela by using the government of Colombia.We must prevent and defeat
this imperialist intervention. Join Us!
No to US intervention in Venezuela!
Defend the Venezuelan Revolution!
Forward to Socialism!
Please pass this along to others, raise the issue in your Trade Union local or Group.
Add your voice to the Campaign- Statement and signatures of supporters: http://www.marxist.com/Latinam/hands_off_venezuela2.html
E-mail us at: venezuela@socialistappeal.org
Find out more at:Socialist Appeal: www.socialistappeal.org http://www.socialistappeal.org
In Defence of Marxism: www.marxist.com http://www.marxist.com
Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria: http://venezuela.elmilitante.org
Hands Off Venezuela: www.handsoffvenezuela.org http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org
"Workers of the World Unite!"
Those who abandon a class approach to the question of War will find themselves like a
tightrope walker without a stick, unbalanced and certain to fall to earth with a bang!
April 13, 2004