Press conference by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, for the national and international media, held at Minrex headquarters, February 19, 2019, Year 61 of the Revolution

(Council of State transcript – GI translation)

Bruno Rodríguez: Good afternoon. Thank you for being here.

We are just a few days from the Constitutional referendum in our country which is holding all of our attention. The mobilization of our people has been intense, and I thank you for the coverage provided by the media you represent.

The government of the Republic of Cuba has consistently denounced that the United States of America is preparing a military aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, using humanitarian pretexts.

In speeches by the First Secretary of our Party’s Central Committee, on July 26, 2018, and January 1, 2019, and in those of the President of our Councils of State and Ministers, compañero Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, in July last year, and more recently, alerts have been sounded about the very serious consequences -economic, political, social, humanitarian, and to the peace and security of the region – that a new military adventure by the United States in Our America would have.

The Revolutionary Government statement dated February 13, with full responsibility and all necessary facts, affirmed, and I reiterate, that U.S. military transport flights are taking place, originating at U.S. military installations from which operate special forces units and marine infantry used for undercover actions, including those directed against leaders or persons considered valuable.

Entirely without the knowledge of governments in the areas involved, and with total disregard for the sovereignty of these states, the preparation of a military action continues, using a humanitarian pretext.

Yesterday afternoon, President Donald Trump and other high-ranking functionaries and spokespeople for the U.S. government repeated and confirmed that the military option is among those being considered. Yesterday, the President said: All options are open.

According to the media in the U.S. itself, high-ranking U.S. military commands, which do not, have never, taken charge of humanitarian aid, have held meetings with politicians in the U.S. and other nations, and have made visits to sites clearly related to the issue we are addressing.

We are all witnessing the fabrication of humanitarian pretexts. A deadline has been set to force the entry of “humanitarian aid” with the use of force, which in and of itself constitutes a contradiction. It is not possible that real humanitarian help be based on violence, on the use of weapons or the violation of international law. This very focus is a violation of international law that reveals the politicization of humanitarian aid, as has occurred at other moments, with the use of noble causes, of universal recognition, as pretexts for the launching of military aggression.

We must ask ourselves – given the setting of a deadline, given the statement made that the humanitarian aid will enter Venezuelan territory by any means, against the sovereign will of its people and the decision of its Constitutional government – what objectives are being pursued? What could they be, if not generating an incident that would endanger the lives of civilians, provoke violence or unpredictable situations?

There has been talk, these last few days, about the humanitarian aid lasting months or even years – as long as the “reconstruction” lasts, has been mentioned.

We could ask this Senator from Florida what reconstruction he is talking about. We are talking about a nation that is not at war, nor has suffered a war, but knows that war is good business for U.S. companies in the military-industrial complex, and for others later, during the so-called reconstruction.

The United States government continues to pressure member states of the United Nations Security Council to force the adoption of a resolution that would serve as the prelude to a “humanitarian intervention.” Contained in the text is a diagnosis of the situation portraying the peace and security of this sister nation as broken, and calls on all types of international actors to adopt necessary measures.

Given the precedents, including recent ones, this language is well known to be followed by other calls for exclusive aerial zones, the protection of civilians, the establishment of humanitarian corridors, in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter that authorizes the use of force.

We are hopeful that the United Nations Security Council ensures that its vocation and responsibility as a guarantor of peace prevails, and does not lend itself to military adventures. We call on its members to act in accordance with international law and defend the peace, so precious to humanity, to Our America, and to the Venezuelan people, as well.

The government of the United States has invented, has fabricated in Washington, an imperialist coup, with a “President” constructed in this northern capital, which has not worked even internally. Numerous U.S. sources could be cited, accredited press media that have published all the details about how the coup was organized. At this time, the pressure that the United States government is putting on other countries is still brutal, trying to force recognition of the supposed “President,” self-named and proclaimed by Washington, and the call for new elections in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, annulling those that its people, legitimately and constitutionally, just held.

The maneuvers of the White House National Security team, along with those of some State Department functionaries and U.S. embassies, are well known. Also underway is a huge publicity and political operation, generally seen as a prelude to broader action by this administration.

Coercive, unilateral – and therefore illegal – economic measures against the sister Republic of Venezuela are increasing: the seizure or freezing of financial assets in third countries; the tremendous pressure on governments that supply Venezuela and the Venezuelan oil industry; pressure on banks in third countries to block legitimate financial transactions, even in other currencies; the confiscation, practically theft, of the PDVSA subsidiary in the United States and other interests established in the country.

These measures constitute a gross violation of international law and international humanitarian law, creating hardship and human harm, which are totally incompatible with hypocritical calls for humanitarian aid by those responsible for the implementation of these cruel measures. The figures are obscene. There is talk about humanitarian aid worth some 20 million dollars to a country that is being deprived of more than 30 billion dollars, as a result of these arbitrary, illegal, and unjust measures.

The government of the Republic of Cuba calls on the international community to take action in defense of peace, to prevent a military intervention in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with the joint efforts of all, without exception.

At this critical moment, when at stake are respect for and the relevance of the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter; when it is decided if the legitimacy of a government rests in the support and the votes of its people; when it is decided if foreign pressure can substitute the sovereign exercise of self-determination; in these circumstances, one can only be in favor or against peace. One can only be in favor or against war.

We encourage the Montevideo Mechanism, especially the governments of the United States of Mexico, the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, the governments of the Caribbean Community and the Plurinational State of Bolivia, to continue making their greatest efforts, in this urgent situation, to facilitate a resolution based on dialogue and absolute respect for the independence and sovereignty of Venezuela, and the validity of the principles of international law, especially non-intervention.

We call for an international mobilization for peace, against a U.S. military intervention in Latin America, against war; above and beyond political differences, ideological differences, in favor of the greater good of humanity which is peace, which is the right to live.

We call on all governments; parliaments; political forces; social, popular, indigenous movements; professional and social organizations; trade unions; farmers; women; students; intellectuals and artists; academics; and especially communicators and journalists – on you (gesturing toward the press) – on non-governmental organizations, on representatives of civil society.

At the same time, the government of the Republic of Cuba reiterates our firm, invariable solidarity with Constitutional President Nicolás Maduro and the Bolivarian Chavista Revolution, with the civic-military union, and the people, and insists that in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, today, the postulates of the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace must be defended. There, today, the sovereignty of all, the independence of all, and the sovereign equality of states must be defended.

We witnessed in wonder, this afternoon, the speech by President Donald Trump. Suddenly, he decreed the “end of socialism,” and announced “a new day” for humanity. He solemnly proclaimed that, for the first time in history, there would be a hemisphere free of socialism.

He curiously also spoke of progress in negotiations with a large socialist country and had chosen another to host an important summit. How many times have figures in the United States announced the end of socialism or the end of history?

President Trump praised the “great leaders” from Florida present at the event: a governor, a couple senators, a representative, an ambassador, all fundamentalist Republicans, and five minutes later, apparently, they told him or he noticed that he had been deeply unjust by omitting the name of John Bolton, also present.

Bolton has been a war planner for decades, the principle organizer of the coup in Venezuela and a consistent advocate of the military option.

The President of the United States referred to human dignity. Apparently he forgets that it is under capitalism – in particular, imperialism – that injustice, exploitation, and manipulation of persons prevails.

He criticized corruption, perhaps without recognizing that the U.S. political system is corrupt by nature, that this is where special interests and corporate contributions reign, where money talks and now big data, where elections are won by manipulating the people.

He spoke of democracy, without mentioning the millions of U.S. citizens, mostly Black and Latino, who are not allowed to vote, or the 40 million living in poverty, half of them children.

He forgot to mention the more than 500,000 homeless, without a roof over their heads. Perhaps he is unaware that a pattern of racial discrimination prevails there, from disproportionate death penalty sentences and court sanctions, including police brutality that has perennially cost the lives of African-Americans.

He did not mention the low level of unionization of U.S. workers, or women without the right to equal pay for equal work.

He mentioned Venezuelan migrants, but not the wall on the Río Bravo. He didn’t mention the under-aged Central Americans, cruelly separated from their parents, or the deaths in detention centers. He did not refer to repression of migrants, or minorities, or those murdered at the hands of the Border Patrol.

From February 14 to 20, the Cuban people expressed their support for the Venezuelan people and their defense of peace. Photo: Ismael Batista
President Trump promised the coup plotters success, because the United States is behind them, backing them. It appears that he is unaware that the coup has not worked, and this is why threats against Venezuela from abroad are escalating.

He presented himself as a head of state who loves peace. Successive U.S. administrations have provoked dozens of wars. This is the country that has tortured and tortures. This is the country that calls the deaths of innocent civilians in war adventures “collateral damage.” This country has sent tens of thousands of U.S. youth as cannon fodder to die in wars of imperialist plunder. This is the country that launched a war that cost the lives of more than a million on the basis of a lie about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Some of the current protagonists were responsible for that war and are now lying about Venezuela.

The (U.S.) President said that socialism does not respect borders. But it was that imperialism that militarily occupied Cuba more than once, that prevented our independence until the entry into Havana of Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz. It was that country that stripped Mexico of more than half of its territory, that imposed cruel military dictatorships in Latin America, and that today maintains aggressive military bases practically all over the planet.

President Trump said that socialism promises unity, but provokes hate and division. What extraordinary cynicism, extraordinary hypocrisy! He is the representative of an amoral government, of a sector rejected even by traditional U.S. parties, that plays dirty politics, that incites the polarization of society with the language of hate and division, and that even prominent conservative exponents have condemned, as they lack the minimum standards of political decency.

The President also said that nothing is less democratic than socialism.

Mr. President Trump, try a constitutional reform, call a referendum on your policies, respect the will of your electorate. Remember that you are President despite having lost the popular vote by more than three million ballots.

The accusation by the President of the United States that Cuba maintains a private army in Venezuela is vile. I demand that he present proof.

Our government categorically rejects this slander, while reaffirming the duty and commitment to continue providing our modest cooperation, in which slightly more than 20,000 Cuban collaborators participate, all civilian, 94% of them Health workers, others in Education, as they do in 83 countries around the world.

We Cubans will continue on our own path, and are preparing for a successful referendum just days from now. We will continue calmly and devotedly working, imbued with the certainty that we possess the necessary tools to build our future.

Cuban collaborators in Venezuela, last Saturday and Sunday, exercised their right to vote in the referendum. They did so massively.

They tell their relatives, who logically worry about the news they receive, that despite the circumstances, they live normally in Venezuela; that it isn’t true that there are hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans dying of hunger, as certain deceitful spokespersons claim, and they reaffirm that they will continue to carry out their profoundly humanitarian work.

I firmly reject President Trump’s attempt to intimidate those who, in a completely sovereign manner, in the exercise of self-determination, have decided to build and defend socialism, and the intimidation of numerous parties, organizations, and people who, as lovers of justice, equity, social and environmentally sustainable development, opponents of exploitation, neo-colonialism, neoliberalism and exclusion, have embraced socialist and revolutionary ideas with profound conviction, convinced that a better world is not only possible, not only essential, but inevitable.

As numerous U.S. analysts and politicians have recognized, yesterday’s speech in Florida was very electoral. He wants to intimidate not only socialist and communist forces, but also Democratic leaders, voters, especially young voters who are frustrated with the system.

He proclaimed yesterday that there would never be socialism in “America.”

He doesn’t only seek to intimate the people, but also the Democrats. His position that whoever votes for the Democrats, in the electoral campaign that appears to have already begun, will be voting for the construction of socialism in this nation of the North, is well-known.

Trump’s main “theoretical contribution” in his speech yesterday, was the incorporation of McCarthyism to the Monroe Doctrine, in advocating a single imperialist power, to which he added an extreme, visceral, old-fashioned, essentially outdated anticommunism, rooted in the Cold War. He will not earn any royalties. President Reagan, and beforehand Prime Minister Churchill, beat him to addressing the issue.

Churchill said 71 years ago: “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy…” Reagan stated 36 years ago: “I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written… I believe this because the source of our strength in the quest for human freedom is not material, but spiritual.”

It was a clumsy, crude declaration of imperialist domination over José Martí’s Our America. “We have seen Cuba’s future here in Miami,” the U.S. President said yesterday. He is wrong; the future of Cuba is here. With or without additional blockade measures, the future is decided by Cuban women and men. We have done so, we have built and we will defend a socialist Revolution right under their noses.

We must recall the defeat of the Batista dictatorship, established and sustained by imperialist governments. We are proud of our victory at Playa Girón, or the Bay of Pigs. Of our bravery faced with the risk of holocaust in the October Crisis (Cuban Missile Crisis). Of our firm and virile response to state terrorism, faced with the mid-flight bombing of a Cuban civil aircraft; events that have caused 3,478 deaths and left 2,099 Cuban women and men disabled.

We reiterate to President Trump that our loyalty to Fidel and Raúl will be invariable, and that the process of continuity led by President Díaz-Canel is permanent and irreversible. We will be united together with our Communist Party of Cuba. Together we have written this new Constitution and we will vote for it on February 24, for the homeland and socialism. It will also be a response to President Trump’s speech.

Many thanks.

Moderator.- We will now go to a brief Q&A session. I ask colleagues from the press to identify themselves, the media they represent, and to make use of the microphones available in the room.

Katell Abiden (AFP).- Good afternoon, Mr. Minister. I want to ask two questions. If a military intervention occurs in Venezuela, what will your reaction be?

On the other hand, I would like to have your opinion on the possible implementation of the Helms-Burton Act’s Title III by the United States.

Bruno Rodríguez. – Yes. Your first question is hypothetical. Our call is to stop a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, the time has come to unite and act together, in time to stop it.

On the second, I can reiterate: As we have explained before, and other leaders of our nation and Foreign Ministry spokespersons have said, our country is prepared to face any measure to tighten the blockade, including the implementation of new elements of the Helms-Burton Act. We have a program, with a predictable economic plan through 2030. The Cuban economy has strong international underpinnings. Our economic relations are diverse. We also count on the prevalence of the rule of international law, the rules of free trade, and freedom of navigation, and we are sure that the fiercely extraterritorial application of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba not only sparks huge international rejection, but that it will face strong resistance from our economic, investment, financial, tourism emissary counterparts, faced with the attempt to impose additional sanctions against the sovereignty of their states, against their national interests, and those of their businesspeople and citizens.

Axel Vera (ABC-Miami). – What evidence does the Cuban government currently possess that the United States is on the path to a military intervention? Could you explain more about that, please?

Bruno Rodríguez.- Yes. Thanks very much.

I can reiterate that I have all the data that allows me to state that flights from U.S. bases are taking place, where special operations and marine infantry units operate, used for missions of this nature, in preparation for actions against Venezuela.

If you would care to visit some airports, you may be able to personally note what I say. I categorically state that these are not humanitarian aid flights.

Governments are usually able to obtain this information but, even without the data that you are asking about, it is clear that an international situation has been created in which the U.S. government is moving toward the military threat.

I don’t know how you could explain the summoning of tens of thousands of people on the Venezuelan border, to forcibly bring in humanitarian aid. I don’t know what your media outlet expects to happen under those circumstances. I don’t know how you interpret a senator’s statement that U.S. capital will be necessary to rebuild Venezuela.

Lorena Cantó (EFE news agency).- You have said, returning to Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, that Cuba is prepared to confront an intensification of the sanctions, and I wanted to ask you if you hope that countries, above all Canada and other commercial partners of Cuba, adopt an active position like that which was initially produced when this disposition was approved, and that stopped its application and has resulted in its periodic suspension. I don’t know if you have maintained contact with the governments of these countries, if they have conveyed that they will adopt a position now as active as at that time in 1996.

Bruno Rodríguez.- Many thanks.

We are necessarily discrete given our position, but I can tell you that I know of strong opposition from numerous European Union member states, and other industrialized nations; I have seen some statements. I also know of extensive diplomatic exchanges, and I am convinced that these nations will defend not only the sovereignty of their states, but their national interest and the interest of their companies and citizens, and I am sure that they will consider the attempt to establish discriminatory norms in favor of U.S. companies against those national interests unacceptable, as in fact I know is their position. They are supported by international law, the obligation to apply their own laws in their own territory, the existence of antidote laws that should also be applied according to their own legal system and international circumstances; as I have heard energetic, firm statements from numerous United States counterparts regarding trade and investment, considering U.S. trade policies, in terms of tariffs and other aspects, unacceptable.

Sergio Gómez (Cubadebate).- President Trump spoke yesterday in Miami as if there were global unanimity regarding the recognition of Guaidó. Does this, or does Minrex believe that such unanimity exists?

And in the same direction, has this aggressive agenda of John Bolton and Marco Rubio against Cuba that President Trump has assumed, been effective or not in achieving the isolation of Cuba from the international community? Because the latest we had in this regard was global approval of the reestablishment of relations between the two countries.

Bruno Rodríguez.- The isolation of Cuba, or of the United States?
Sergio Gómez.- No, whether it has been achieved, if that policy has been effective, in your opinion, in isolating Cuba from the international community that applauded the reestablishment of relations.

Bruno Rodríguez.- One reads numerous statements and information in the press. Less than a quarter of United Nations member states interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela to demand elections or, in one way or another, recognize the “president” invented in Washington. So I think the information is irrefutable.

I am also aware of a recent debate in the United Nations Security Council, where the supposed accuser became the accused, faced with the defense of international law and the sovereignty of Venezuela by numerous United Nations member states.

I also know of a meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement, that firmly expressed it was against a military adventure, and supports Venezuelan sovereignty.

So I think that we have to separate the propaganda from the reality, to not allow U.S. spokespersons, who sometimes want to confuse reality with their wishes, not ours, succeed.

If there were any doubt regarding the international situation surrounding Cuba, it would be enough to briefly review the minutes, or more entertaining, to see the video of what occurred November 1, in the United Nations General Assembly: 10 votes, practically unanimous, left the United States government isolated, still obsessed with a genocidal blockade.

Those who now speak of humanitarian aid, and generously over 20 million, have caused Cuba damages of approximately one trillion dollars at prices based on the value of gold, or more than 130 billion dollars at current prices. The blockade damages, as has been said, scrupulously calculated, using an internationally auditable methodology, reflect that without it, Cuba would have grown at an annual average of 10% over the last decade.

I think it is totally clear that the United States government, in its attempt to isolate Cuba, has ended up profoundly isolated.

Many thanks.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, during a press conference yesterday, called on the United Nations (UN) to back the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people and not allow, under any circumstances, interference in the internal affairs of that nation, or violations of international law.

Unilateral, illegal measures, such as those being taken against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, along with an aggressive communications and political campaign, are generally the prelude to larger-scale actions by the U.S. government, Rodríguez noted.

Cuba calls for a mobilization for peace, against imperialist intervention in Latin America, against war, setting aside political or ideological differences. “In these circumstances you can only be in favor of peace and against war,” the minister said.

(Granma)

“Respect the peace,” “No coup, no intervention,” “Defend the people’s right to choose their own path,” are just some of the phrases repeated these last few days in Cuba, in workplaces and schools, in agricultural cooperatives and community centers across the country, because Venezuela has committed a sin: standing on its own two feet with its head held high, resisting imperialist pretensions. Venezuelans have committed the sin of being free.

“It is inadmissible that the Yankee government is using the opposition to destroy the great conquests achieved by the Bolivarian Revolution,” Miriam Isaac Reginfo, a technician at Santiago de Cuba’s Architectural Construction Enterprise No. 57, told Granma.

She worked for three years in the sister country as an inspector for the housing mission, in the state of Miranda, and recalls the thousands of buildings she saw erected in the five municipalities she covered, all for needy families, including many who lost their homes in landslides.
“All of this is at risk now,” she said, along with programs devoted to education, sports, culture, science, food production, the environment and economic development – so hated by the U.S. government because they are no longer permitted to plunder the country’s riches as they once did.

“Therefore, as stated in the Revolutionary Government statement, which we have just supported with our signatures, we will do whatever is necessary. Today dignity and action are required, because just as Fidel said that after Girón, all the peoples of Latin America were a little more free, if the example of Venezuela is lost, that freedom will be endangered.

“We will never leave Venezuela alone,” she emphasized, “and I think that the world will not abandon it to fate either, because the bloodbaths and the retreat of history, to which U.S. military interventions have always led, supported by a few puppet governments, cannot be the destiny of the children of Simón Bolívar.”

María Cristina Díaz Montalván, a shopkeeper in the Villa Clara neighborhood of Sabino Hernández, insisted that these are times in which unity is needed to preserve the sovereignty and independence of the sister nation.
Likewise, Elías René Pérez Molina and Florencio Altunaga López, delegates to the XXI Congress of the Cuban Workers Federation (CTC), condemned U.S. aggression, which is directed toward seizing Venezuela’s natural resources and putting an end to Latin American unity, they said.

“If they think we are going to sit idly, they are wrong,” said Digna Morales Molina, director of the Commerce and Gastronomy Enterprise in Villa Clara, and recalled José Martí’s phrase: “Give me a way to serve Venezuela: she has in me a son,” an idea repeated today by millions of Cubans and honest citizens of the world, who know very well what it would mean for this nation to lose its independence.

IN CONTEXT
President Donald Trump delivered an offensive speech in Miami, reiterating the threat of military aggression against Venezuela.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said it is time to take a stand, beyond political differences, in defense of peace, and emphasized that the humanitarian aid issue is being used as a pretext to launch a war for oil.
Trump has violated Venezuela’s sovereignty, by recognizing a puppet president invented in Washington, the minister tweeted.

Rodriguez noted that Trump has added McCarthyism to the Monroe Doctrine and has reiterated that all options are open. “The danger of military aggression is real. The history of Our America has demonstrated this.”

(Granma)

Between February 6 and 10 of 2019, several military transport aircraft have flown to the Rafael Miranda Airport in Puerto Rico, the San Isidro Air Base in the Dominican Republic, and other strategically located Caribbean Islands, most certainly without the knowledge of the governments of those nations. These flights took off from U.S. military facilities where Special Operation Troops and U.S. Marine Corps units operate. These units have been used for covert operations, even against leaders of other countries.

Media and political circles – including within the U.S. – have revealed that extremist figures of the government with a long history of actions and slander aimed at causing or instigating wars, such as John Bolton, U.S. National Security Advisor; and Mauricio Claver-Carone, Director of the National Security Council’s Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, counting on the connivance of Marco Rubio, Senator of the anti-Cuban mafia in Florida, designed, directly and thoroughly organized, and funded, from their posts in Washington, the attempted coup d’etat in Venezuela by means of the illegal self-proclamation of a President.

They are the same individuals who, either personally or through the State Department, have been exerting brutal pressures on numerous governments to force them to support the arbitrary call for new Presidential elections in Venezuela, while promoting recognition for the usurper who barely won 97,000 votes as a parliamentarian, against the more than 6 million Venezuelans who elected Constitutional President Nicolás Maduro Moros last May.

After the resistance mounted by the Bolivarian and Chavista people against the coup, evidenced by the mass demonstrations in support of President Maduro, and the loyalty of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, the U.S. government has intensified its international political and media campaign, and strengthened unilateral economic coercive measures against Venezuela, among them the freezing of Venezuelan funds in third countries banks, worth billions of dollars, and the theft of the this sister nation’s oil revenue, causing serious humanitarian damage and harsh deprivation to its people.
In addition to this cruel and unjustifiable plunder, the U.S. intends to fabricate a humanitarian pretext in order to launch a military attack on Venezuela and, by resorting to intimidation, pressure, and force, is seeking to introduce into this sovereign nation’s territory alleged humanitarian aid – which is one thousand times inferior as compared to the economic damages provoked by the siege imposed by Washington .

The usurper and self-proclaimed “President” shamelessly announced his disposition to call for a U.S. military intervention under the pretext of receiving the aforementioned humanitarian aid, and has described the sovereign and honorable rejection of that maneuver as a crime against humanity.

High-ranking U.S. officials have been arrogantly and blatantly reminding us all, day after day, that when it comes to Venezuela, “all options are on the table, including military action.”

In the process of fabricating pretexts, the U.S .government has resorted to deception and slanders, presenting a draft resolution at the UN Security Council which, cynically and hypocritically expresses deep concern for the human rights and humanitarian situation…, the recent attempts to block the delivery of humanitarian aid, the millions of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, the breakdown of regional peace and security in Venezuela, and calls for taking the necessary steps.

It is obvious that the United States is paving the way to forcibly establish a humanitarian corridor under international supervision, invoke the obligation to protect civilians and take all necessary steps.

It is worth recalling that similar behaviors and pretexts were used to by the U.S. during the prelude to wars it launched against Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Libya, which resulted in tremendous human losses and caused enormous suffering.

The U.S. government attempts to remove the biggest obstacle – the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution – to imperialist domination of Our America and deprive the Venezuelan people of the largest certified oil reserves on the planet and numerous strategic natural resources.
It is impossible to forget the sad and painful history of U.S. military interventions perpetrated more than once in Mexico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Honduras, and most recently Grenada and Panama.

As was warned by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz on July 14, 2017, “The aggression and coup violence against Venezuela harm all of Our America and only benefit the interests of those set on dividing us in order to exercise their control over our peoples, unconcerned about causing conflicts of incalculable consequences in this region, like those we are seeing in different parts of the world.”

History will severely judge a new imperialist military intervention in the region and the complicity of those who might irresponsibly support it.
What is at stake today in Venezuela is the sovereignty and dignity of Latin America and the Caribbean and the peoples of the South. Equally at stake is the survival of the rule of International Law and the UN Charter. What is being defined today is whether the legitimacy of a government emanates from the express and sovereign will of its people, or from the recognition of foreign powers.

The Revolutionary Government calls for an international mobilization in defense of peace in Venezuela and the region, based on the principles established in the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, which was adopted by heads of state and government of CELAC in 2014.

It likewise welcomes and supports the Montevideo Mechanism, an initiative promoted by Mexico, Uruguay, the Caribbean Commonwealth (CARICOM), and Bolivia, which seeks to preserve peace in Venezuela based on the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of states, legal equality of states, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, as stated in its recent declaration.

It welcomes the positive consideration given to this initiative by President Maduro Moros and the international community, and expresses its concern given the U.S. government’s categorical rejection of the dialogue initiatives promoted by several countries, including this one.

The Revolutionary Government reiterates its firm and unwavering solidarity with Constitutional President Nicolás Maduro Moros, the Bolivarian Chavista Revolution and the civic and military unity of its people, and calls upon all peoples and governments of the world to defend peace and mount a joint opposition, over and above political or ideological differences, to a new imperialist military intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will damage the independence, sovereignty and interests of all peoples from the Rio Bravo to Patagonia.

Havana, February 12, 2019.

We are today living a historical moment. In these coming days, the future of our countries will be defined, as one of war or peace. Your national representatives in Washington want to bring to your borders the same hatred that they sowed in Vietnam. They want to invade and intervene in Venezuela – they say, as they said then – in the name of democracy and freedom. But this is not so. The story of the usurpation of power in Venezuela is as false as the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It is a false case, but it can have dramatic consequences for our entire region.

Venezuela is a country that, by virtue of its 1999 Constitution, has broadly expanded the participatory and protagonistic democracy of the people, and in an unprecedented manner, is one of the countries with the largest number of electoral processes held over the last 20 years. You might not like our ideology or our appearance, but we exist and we are millions.

I address these words to the people of the United States of America to warn of the seriousness and danger of some sectors in the White House considering an invasion of Venezuela with unpredictable consequences for my country and for the entire American region. President Donald Trump also intends to disrupt the noble dialogue initiatives promoted by Uruguay and Mexico, with the support of CARICOM, for a peaceful solution and dialogue in favor of Venezuela. We know that, for the good of Venezuela, we must sit down and talk because to refuse to dialogue is to choose the path of force. Keep in mind the words of John F. Kennedy: “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”Are those who do not want to dialogue afraid of the truth?

The political intolerance towards the Venezuelan Bolivarian model and the appetite for our immense oil resources, minerals, and other great riches, has prompted an international coalition headed by the U.S. government to commit the serious insanity of militarily attacking Venezuela, under the false pretext of a non-existent humanitarian crisis.

The people of Venezuela have suffered painful social wounds caused by a criminal commercial and financial blockade, which has been aggravated by the seizing and theft of our financial resources and assets in countries aligned with this demented onslaught.

And yet, thanks to a new system of social protection, of direct attention to the most vulnerable sectors, we proudly continue to be a country with one of the highest human development indices and with lowest inequality in the Americas.

The U.S. people must know that this complex multifaceted aggression is carried out with total impunity and in clear violation of the United Nations Charter, which expressly rejects the threat or use of force, among other principles and purposes for the sake of peace and friendly relations between Nations.

We want to continue being business partners of the people of the United States, as we have been throughout our history. Their politicians in Washington, on the other hand, are willing to send their sons and daughters to die in an absurd war, instead of respecting the sacred right of the Venezuelan people to self-determination and to safeguard our sovereignty.

Like you, people of the United States, we Venezuelans are patriots. And we shall defend our homeland with every piece of our soul. Today Venezuela is united in a single clamor: we demand the end of aggression that seeks to suffocate our economy and socially suffocate our people, as well as the end of serious and dangerous threats of military intervention against Venezuela. We appeal to the good soul of U.S. society, a victim of its own leaders, to join our call for peace, let us be all one people against warmongering and war.

Long live the peoples of America!

Nicolás Maduro

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Political leaders, intellectuals, and representatives of social movements are evaluating the unfavorable correlation of forces developing over the last few years, and charting action plans, taking the victory of progressive candidate

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in Mexico, as a positive sign.
“The storm arrived and shut the window opened at the end of the 90s… The question now posed, for the Brazilian left especially, is how to open the window again,” recently wrote Valter Pomar, a member of Brazil’s Workers’ Party and a professor of International Affairs at the Federal University, in his essay on how to move forward.

In his opinion, the left needs strong candidates to challenge the right in elections, but this is not enough since the strategic “utility” of legislators and government leaders rises and falls in accordance with political perspectives and the level of organization outside of the institutional environment, implying the need for a change in methods on the left, and a recovery of spaces lost alongside the working class.

In Latin America, “The challenge for this possible left is that of building alternatives to capitalism in the economic field, where the current plan is the Uber-ization of the economy; total deregulation – except when the state is needed to dismantle a progressive gain; but above all, build alternatives in the cultural field, challenge capitalist hegemony in the cultural (and media) environment to construct a people, not consumer citizens deluded with false middle class hopes,” writes political analyst Katu Arkonada on the teleSUR blog.
Likewise, essayist, journalist, sociologist, university professor, and political analyst Olmedo Beluche, wrote in Rebelión: “Without nationalization of the national banking and financial system, without state control of foreign trade; and without the nationalization of large industries, that is, without truly socialist measures, Latin American governments in general are at the mercy of the bourgeoisie, of imperialism, and economic sabotage, as the case of Venezuela has repeatedly shown.”

This contradiction, he argues, explains the limitations of the left and the difficulty it faces in responding to the offensive being mounted by national right wing forces supported by U.S. imperialism, plus the reformist attitude of leaders who docilely accept the formalities of bourgeois institutions.
The majority of analysts agree that the progressive cycle on the continent is in crisis, but not coming to an end. Although some popular governments were removed from office via elections (Argentina) or through semi-legal or judicial maneuvers (Brazil), the progressive era’s hard core of change has not collapsed: Bolivia and Venezuela, accompanied by Nicaragua and the Cuban Revolution.
“The two projects, along with Nicaragua and Cuba, which propose going beyond capitalist relations in the long run, are on their feet, indicating that the strategic battle of our time is defending these processes,” as was made clear during the 24th annual meeting of the São Paulo Forum, held in Havana this past July.

At this gathering of the region’s political forces, proposals were made for sustained action based on the idea that government positions won by the left must reinforce their legitimate hegemony and build popular power. Peoples with political consciousness are always the best antidote to the return of the right in the Americas.
STRATEGIES FROM THE LEFT

- Systematically and creatively disseminate the economic, social, and political gains of popular governments that, for one reason or another, have suffered reverses, as well as those which have endured.
- Strengthen a constructive, serene debate on the historic, political, and ideological limitations of each process.
- Seek more efficient mechanisms for organization, consciousness building, and political participation of the social base committed to post-neoliberal change.

- Renovate relations between government political parties and popular movements with nationalist and patriotic positions, taking a favorable position on the need for a state that assures democratic functioning in the construction of consensus.
- Build consensus among segments of society that share, or could share, demands, interests, and revolutionary or progressive change.

- Strengthen the cause of Puerto Rican independence, as a symbol of the anti-colonial struggle to be defended.
- Build active participation of the people and national majorities in the political process of each country.

- Provide decisive support and encourage liberation efforts and anti-capitalist ideas within social movements.

- Promote efforts to advance the integration of what Martí called Our America.
- Support, in all international spaces available, any action taken to reduce the level of domination and hegemony of the United States in our countries, as essential and possible.

(Granma)

The most recent of these acts occurred August 15 during a demonstration called by the Nicaraguan opposition, when an armed group attacked the national water and sewer company (Enacal), teleSUR reported.

According to a local police communiqué, the suspected terrorists opened gunfire and launched home-made grenades onto Encal wells which supply the population of Managua.

Such attacks are part of an ongoing coup attempt against President Ortega, that has cost the lives of 198 persons, numerous human rights violations, and severe damage to the national economy, National Assembly sources stated.

During the last three months of violence, 252 public and private buildings have been destroyed, as well as 209 kilometers of streets and highways. Some 278 pieces of industrial and construction equipment have been burned, along with

389 vehicles, reported José Santos Figueroa, vice president of the National Assembly standing committee for Production, Economy, and Budget.

“This coup plan is characterized by efforts to interrupt and severely damage peace, security, tranquility, and the right to life of Nicaraguans,” stated Santos, a Sandinista National Liberation Front deputy.

Added to this are export losses valued at 270 million dollars, he pointed out, noting that the economy suffered a 7% deceleration in the rate of deposits and 10.7% in credit awarded to the productive sector. Through July 31, an estimated 68,000 jobs held by Nicaraguans affiliated with the Social Security system were affected.

As a result of the damage, on August 14 the National Assembly approved changes to the national budget for the year, with projected income and expenditures reduced.

Nonetheless, the amended budget guarantees continued funding for efforts to combat poverty, public investment programs, citizen security, and wages for public sector workers, according to Treasury and Public Credit Minister Iván Acosta.

TIMELINE OF A COUP ATTEMPT

- April 18

Some 60 government opponents protest a social security reform implemented by President Daniel Ortega. Three deaths and 37 injuries are reported.

- May 22

Some 76 deaths occur during conflicts. The Government denounces the plot as financed from abroad.

- April 22

Daniel Ortega expresses his willingness to hold talks to resolve the crisis and announces that the social security reform will be revoked. Looting occurs.

- May 23

The dialogue is suspended due to lack of consensus on the agenda: the opposition demands the resignation of Ortega and early elections; while the legitimate Ortega government rejects these demands and denounces the attempted “soft coup.”

- July 7th

Before a demonstration of supporters, Daniel Ortega refuses to hold the 2021 elections early, saying that elections will be conducted as mandated by law.

- May 16

The national dialogue is established, mediated by five bishops from the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN).

- June 16

The Ortega government opens the door to visits by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in order to demonstrate the intentions of those who promote instability from abroad.

- July 13

The opposition calls a second national strike.

- August 15th

The Government of Nicaragua declares unacceptable the presence in the country of a commission from the Organization of American States (OAS) considering it interventionist.

(Prensa Latina)

The violent acts are presented as peaceful demonstrations by students, and the press publishes photos of those supposedly killed by the Sandinista government, but just as the truth will come out, the deception is discovered. Several have complained, demonstrating that the supposed dead are actually alive. One young man who resides abroad returned to state as such before the cameras, but of course this was not reproduced by the mainstream media.

U.S. author, journalist, and blogger Max Blumenthal recently published an article noting that a group of activists opposed to the current Nicaraguan government went to meet with leaders of Freedom House in Washington D.C. According to Blumenthal, the opposition group known as M-19, “were there to beseech Donald Trump and other right-wing U.S. government officials to help them in their fight against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.”

The links between U.S. organizations and the events underway in Nicaragua and other parts of the world are clearly revealed in Blumenthal’s piece: “The NED (National Endowment for Democracy) is a leading agent of U.S. soft power that has meddled in other countries’ affairs since its founding at the height of the Cold War, in 1983.” And the author cites Allen Weinstein, a founder of the NED, in 1991: “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”

The budget with which the NED operates comes from the United States Congress, which grants it millions of dollars every two years, as part of the State Department budget. The organization also receives donations from four associations: the Smith Richardson Foundation, the John M. Ohin Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and Freedom House, indirectly funded by federal contracts.

Masked individuals, armed with homemade mortars and bazookas block the streets and incite violence in Nicaragua. Photo: www.telemetro.com
The money is distributed to the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the American Center for International Labor Solidarity of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), and the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which in turn distribute monetary and material resources to other organizations in the U.S. and around the world, and disburse money and materials for opposition organizations in countries whose governments are not to the liking of the U.S. government.

The report from this U.S. journalist identifies the culprits: “Aside from NED, USAID has been the most active promoter of regime change against socialist-oriented governments in Latin America. In Nicaragua, USAID’s budget topped $5.2 million in 2018, with most of the funding directed towards training civil society and media organizations.”

This is the same USAID that used funds from the Alliance for Progress, a U.S. “economic aid,” “political” and “social” program, a kind of Marshall Plan and the first big attempt to halt the prospect of revolution in Latin American and isolate Cuba, and finance repression. Instead of engineers, technicians, and skilled workers, USAID trained unscrupulous police, soldiers, paramilitaries, torturers, and killers; instead of factories, farms, and schools, detention and torture centers were built.

Let’s not forget that this is also the same USAID that financed the training of death squads, promoted “health” programs that concealed inhumane sterilization processes in Central America, and collaborated with CIA narco agents in the Iran-Contra operation.

USAID has created an extensive network on our continent, which attracts cadres, manufactures leaders, and penetrates civil society. A true interventionist army of “experts,” “advisors” and “consultants,” working to develop its subversive plans. In its first ten years alone, the NED distributed more than 200 million dollars in 1,500 projects to support so-called “friends of America.”

Serbia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Iran, and Venezuela; wherever there is a government that goes against the interests of the United States, these generously financed experts in destabilization and chaos swiftly act.

Mercenaries, delinquents, hirelings of the “Soft Coup,” of the “Color Revolutions,” or other “revolutions” with eye-catching and peaceful names, designed in Langley’s laboratories, such as the Rose Revolution, Tulip Revolution, Orange Revolution, or known by names closer to reality such as the Bulldozer Revolution in Serbia; where the purchase of uncritical consciences and deception, seduction through the use of attractive concepts for young people, and a lot of money, all the money that is necessary, are the soldiers and weapons of this new war. And of course, Nicaragua is now the target.

(Granma)

In the capital of Buenos Aires, strikers blocked access to the city with a huge march to the central Obelisk monument, surrounded by a mega-mobilization of security forces.

Workers and managers of small and medium companies, who have suffered with the closure of shops, small-scale producers and other sectors that had never participated in such a strike action also mobilized, in what was considered to be the largest general strike in recent years, reported La Jornada.

Train, bus, metro and even air transport came to a stop, while many businesses were closed.

A general strike means the failure of social dialogue and also failed policies, stated Juan Carlos Schmid, CGT leader. He added that unions had reached this point after having exhausted all other alternatives, and stressed that workers are striking in order to be able to continue working.

President Mauricio Macri and other governmental officials criticized the strike. Labor Minister Jorge Triaca said that the move did not help at all. However, he admitted that “The government has to correct its economic program.”

Héctor Daer, of the country’s health union, stressed that health sector workers are paying a disproportionate income tax rate, further impacting their salaries. He also noted that the governmental had not responded to their proposals to protect jobs, the purchasing power of wages and workers’ health.

It was also learned that the workers’ assembly of the Télam state-run national news agency confirmed they had voted on Monday to continue an indefinite strike following the dismissal of two colleagues over the content of a news wire. The Press Union of Buenos Aires (SiPreBa) described the measure adopted by the agency Board as “mistaken” and demanded that the decision be reversed.

“This government has taken money from workers and retirees… in a very clear economic program,” stated Deputy and former Economic minister Axel Kicillof, who added: “Every time something similar has been applied in the country, it has been disastrous, with increasingly destroyed and excluded sectors. It’s a government that opens up imports, lowers wages and reins in public spending, does not finance health or education, so only the big speculators do well.”

(Granma)

This is why it is so important to know, study and take into account the experiences of different countries besieged by sinister imperialist initiatives.

One cannot afford to lose one’s bearings because the enemy, from outside and from within, employs significant resources and all possible means to overthrow governments, create chaos and fuel ungovernability.

What is happening today in Nicaragua is part of that same script conceived in Washington and promoted, generally, from Miami.

Internally, the use – well paid of course – of organizations or groups unsupportive of the local authorities, constitutes a breeding ground for these subversive plans. The media takes care of the rest, shaping hypercritical public opinion to foment protests and encourage disorder.

Nicaragua is experiencing tense moments in which marginal groups inserted among young people and paid by those who oppose the Sandinista system have already claimed the lives of more than a dozen citizens, and have attacked commercial, radio and other, mainly governmental, facilities.

The script used against the Nicaragua of Sandino and Carlos Fonseca Amador, was used before against Venezuela. We must never forget that in the land of Bolívar and Chávez, so-called “opposition” groups, with their guarimbas (violent street barricades), burned people alive, used snipers to kill innocent citizens, sabotaged the electrical system and fomented a climate of terror aimed at putting an end to the Bolivarian Revolution; the same that has given homes to several million poor families, and has taken quality and free health services to the most remote areas of the nation.

The empire and the national oligarchy can’t forgive Venezuela for becoming a country free of illiteracy, thanks to the Cuban “Yes, I can” literacy method, and ensuring that the most deprived today have full access to culture and sports. They can’t forgive losing their ownership of the country’s vast oil wealth.

The resistance of the Bolivarian people and the astute guidance of their leaders have put an end to imperialist plans, but it is common knowledge that the threats have not ceased, rather they continue to increase with economic and commercial sanctions, and the manipulation of the mass media at their service.

Experience shows that the effects of such acts, when not overcome in time, can become the focus of intense media coverage, thus serving as part of the powder keg created to give the impression of chaos and ungovernability.

The use of the law, applied with severity, and according to each case, is the solution to stop the destabilizers, those who burn and kill human beings, or those who destroy public property.
The law is made to be complied with, and not violated by violent elements, mercenaries and other components at the service of their Washington paymasters.

I remember when Cuba was subjected to all kinds of provocations, bombings, infiltration of weapons, criminal sabotage, and even the invasion at Playa Giron. The decisive and rapid response of the people, their armed forces, the internal order and the effective response of the political leadership, who acted with courage, determination and speed, removed the cancer before it spread.

There is no need to renounce dialogue when it is well led, perhaps without the need for intermediaries. Foreign impositions or those of internal mercenaries fronting as non-governmental organizations cannot be accepted. The only way to deal with those who break the law, is to enforce it.

Dialogue must be encouraged, with the participation of the government and citizens. To hear opinions, propose solutions. It must be flexible, but at the same time energetic, in the defense of what has been built thanks to genuine revolutionary processes supported by the people.

In no case can those who are paid as mercenaries in the service of a foreign power have a seat at the dialogue table.

The people, the youth, in their vast majority, do not accept violent acts like those that are occurring today in Nicaraguan cities. They defend social achievements, health, education, cultural gains and others.

The achievements of the revolutionary and popular processes taking place in Venezuela and Nicaragua constitute a legacy too big to be put at risk and brought down by a few delinquents paid by their enemies.

At times like these, we can never forget the warning of Ernesto Che Guevara when he called us not to yield “even one iota” to imperialism.

And experience shows us that behind all these violent actions, those previously in Venezuela and now in Nicaragua, is the greater power, that which is not content with imposing cruel economic sanctions against our peoples, but committed to the destabilizing variant of chaos and ungovernability. •

NICARAGUA AND VENEZUELA: SEVEN COINCIDENCES

Unconventional weapons:

The use of home-made weapons to confront security forces seeks to create a blurred line between peaceful protests and the tactics of subversion and urban warfare, which leads to deaths attributed to the government, in the framework of producing a dossier on “human rights violations.”

Rumor-mongering campaigns:

Unconfirmed information is generated by psychological warfare operators, who use social media to create anxiety and panic. In Venezuela in 2017, opposition leaders led a rumor-mongering campaign to link the government to the use of chemical weapons and attract international media attention. This was also the case in Nicaragua, where the government was linked to the use of chemical weapons, a lie that fueled violence via social media.

Manipulating the death toll:

The numbers of those killed during violent events are reported without explanation and, as in Venezuela, the government is blamed. Thus, the pretext for intervention or a coup d’état is sought. In Nicaragua, the media becomes a chorus of ghostly reports that repeat the number of fatalities, confirmed or not.

Looting and damage to public and private property:

Armed groups in Nicaragua have looted several electrical appliances and even motorcycle stores in some parts of the country, and have caused damage to state facilities, such as hospitals and educational institutions.

Use of snipers:

In Venezuela, selective killings were carried out using snipers. From April 11, 2002, from the Euromaidan to Nicaragua, snipers have become a recurrent resource in coup-driven operations promoted by the U.S.

The use of influential figures from the entertainment world:

Manipulating the sensitivity of figures linked to the entertainment industry is a successful propaganda tool to capture support for the violent elements in increasingly broad layers of public opinion. In the Venezuelan case, there were plenty of celebrities demonstrating their prejudice against Chavismo.

Symbols and glorification of death:

The lists of deceased written with chalk on the pavement that are used in Nicaragua are similar to those written in Venezuela during the guarimbas of 2017, with the purpose of hiding the causes and laying the blame for the human costs of the violence with the government.

(Source: Misión Verdad)