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Make no mistake: The United States is waging war on Venezuela

Make no mistake: The United States is waging war on Venezuela

Issued by the Anti-War Committee June 30, 2019

The US-coordinated coup attempts against President Nicolás Maduro have been thwarted so far. Trump’s obsessions have shifted to Iran. But US efforts to steal Venezuela’s resources, overthrow its government and punish its people continue. The anti-war movement must not stop demanding HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!

This year alone, the US and its allies have stolen billions of dollars of Venezuelan currency reserves held in foreign banks, preventing the purchase of much-needed medical supplies. This, along with US sanctions and a sabotage campaign, are the real cause of humanitarian shortages in Venezuela. The DC-based Center for Economic & Policy Research estimates that over 40,000 Venezuelan lives have been lost due to US sanctions.  We must be clear…. SANCTIONS KILL!

The US has announced new sanctions targeting Venezuela’s Local Committees for Supply and Production–known by its Spanish-language acronym, CLAP–which distributes subsidized food and basic goods to over 6 million Venezuelans, preventing famine despite shortages in the private sector. The intention without a doubt is to disrupt the CLAP program and worsen the lives of working-class Venezuelans, another US aggression attempting to destabilize Venezuela.  These SANCTIONS ARE WAR by another name!

Even though the US-anointed Juan Guaido’s coup attempt of April 30 failed miserably, efforts to bring about regime change by force continue. US Southern Command is trying to bribe Venezuelan military officials to defect into what it calls the “hemisphere’s professional brotherhood-in-arms”, reminiscent of the US legacy of training right-wing death squads across Latin America at the School of the Americas. Venezuelan authorities recently reported thwarting yet another US-backed plot to assassinate President Maduro and seize power.

These are blatant, illegal acts of aggression by the United States.  Disappointingly, the mainstream US media continue to cape for this campaign to meddle in Venezuela’s constitutional, democratic society.  But people everywhere are learning it’s the US media that’s been lying.  Trump and his team of war criminals–John Bolton, Elliott Abrams, Mike Pompeo–continue to expose themselves as crooks and liars. 

People do not want another war for oil. Our growing, grassroots movement stands with the millions of working-class Venezeulans demanding an end to these shameful acts of aggression by the US government..