U.S. hands off Venezuela!

At the meeting of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) in Bogota, Colombia, on Dec. 3, some 15 countries took action against the Bolivarian government of Venezuela. They restricted travel of top members of the Venezuelan government, including its president and vice president.

This hostile step by these countries, whose right-wing rulers are subservient to U.S. imperialism, is a sign that Washington plans to step up its assault on the Venezuelan government and people.

In an interview by Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese of Popular Resistance, New York-based Venezuelan activist William Camacaro explained these points in great detail. Camacaro, who is active with the Solidarity Committee with Venezuela NYC and organizes food sovereignty tours to Venezuela, put out an alert to people in the U.S. urging them to take action to defend Venezuela.

Camacaro discussed how President Nicolás Maduro’s government has the backing of Venezuela’s military and has organized popular militias to defend the democratically elected government. Because of this support, the Caracas government has stopped Washington’s agents from carrying out a coup, which they have attempted to instigate since early this year.

Camacaro stressed the seriousness of the TIAR meeting and the threats coming from the Colombian regime. He also described U.S. imperialism’s dangerous and aggressive stance as mass uprisings throughout the hemisphere have put U.S.-backed neoliberalism under attack. He also discussed the military-fascist coup in Bolivia and some of the differences between Venezuela and Evo Morales’ Bolivia.

The interview delivers a message that anti-war and anti-imperialist activists in the United States should take seriously: We must keep up our level of defense of the government of President Maduro.

Workers World will continue its support for the Venezuelan revolutionary process and the Maduro government, and also supports Camacaro’s call for the movement here to stay alert and take appropriate actions.

We direct our readers to the full text of the interview with Camacaro, published Dec. 7 at popularresistance.com, which can also be found at tinyurl.com/uegr5l5.

U.S. imperialism, out of South America and the Caribbean!