Dallas says no war with Venezuela
Dallas, TX – Over 150 Dallas-Fort Worth residents gathered together to protest the United States’ bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of President Maduro and First Lady Flores on January 3. This emergency protest was called after the U.S. launched an unprecedented escalation against Venezuela. Speakers emphasized that the F-35 fighter jets used in the attack on Caracas were produced by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas.
Speakers with the DFW Anti-War Committee (DAWC) talked about their “Stop the Bombs Garland” campaign against Repkon, a bomb factory in Garland, Texas that produces large portions of the U.S. and Israeli bomb arsenals to be used against Palestine, Yemen, and now Venezuela.
Kai Leslie, a member of DAWC said, “The DFW Anti-War Committee came out to this action to show our solidarity for the government of Venezuela in the wake of Trump’s brazen act of imperialist violence upon the people of Venezuela. We demand that Venezuelan’s President Nicolás Maduro be freed and returned safely and an immediate end to hostilities. The bombs being used right now in Gaza and will be used in Venezuela are created right here in DFW at a factory named Repkon, formally General Dynamics, and the DFW Anti War Committee’s campaign ‘Stop the Bombs Garland’ demands that the production of these weapons be ceased.”
During the protest, attendees chanted, “From Venezuela to the Middle East, we demand justice, we demand peace,” “U.S. Navy, CIA, you’re not welcome, go away” and “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” Community members brought signs reading “No war with Venezuela!” and “Free President Maduro!”
During the protest, Scot Godfrey with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization remarked, “I came to the protest today because I find the imperialist actions of the U.S. disgusting and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. It is brutally obvious that this attack on Venezuela’s sovereignty is an attempt to steal the natural resources of the Bolivarian Republic; particularly their oil. I also came because I want to make my voice heard and demand the freeing of the Maduro family and an immediate end to war mongering in the western hemisphere by the American empire.”
Protesters rallied across the street from The Dallas Morning News headquarters, calling out the media’s complicity in manufacturing consent for another war, using the claim of “drugs” this time instead of “weapons of mass destruction.” Community members loudly demanded no war with Venezuela and the immediate release of President Maduro and First Lady Flores.