Over the past 5 months the Bolivarian Revolution led by the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) have faced intensified attacks by Venezuela's counter-revolutionary opposition. At every turn the opposition backed by the U.S. government is struggling to destabilize Venezuela and to find a way to force the overthrow of Nicolás Maduro, whether it be through unconstitutional legislation, an economic war, or even through foreign intervention. For this reason international actions in solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution and President Maduro are of critical importance.
On Friday May 13, 2016, Fire This Time’s Venezuela Solidarity Campaign organized two actions in solidarity with Venezuela. The first was a protest picket in front of the U.S. Consulate in downtown Vancouver. Supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution gathered to demand an end to U.S. intervention in Venezuela and demonstrate their support to the democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro. Coordinator of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, Alison Bodine welcomed participants to the protest and invited up speakers in between rounds of picketing the Consulate. Among the speakers were long-time social justice activist dating back to the Civil Rights Movement, David Whittlesey who spoke about the U.S.’s history of intervention and war in Latin America.
After the protest, the group moved locations over to the Vancouver Art Gallery in order to set up an information display, hand out fliers and collect petition signatures demanding: U.S. Hands Off Venezuela! Hundreds of signatures were collected and thousands of people were approached and engaged in discussion on U.S. intervention in Venezuela and the gains of the Bolivarian Revolution.
The Fire This Time Venezuela Solidarity Campaign plans to continue actions in solidarity with Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution and demand that the U.S. respect the self-determination of Venezuela.
U.S. Hands Off Venezuela!
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