Salt Lake City marches for Cuba and Venezuela
Salt Lake City, UT – On Saturday, October 3, a coalition including the Utah Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Revolutionary Communists of America gathered with over three dozen community members at Washington Square Park in Salt Lake City. The reason for the action was a show of solidarity with the Cuba and Venezuela, and to demand freedom for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.
Amber Grace, a member of the UAWC, stated, “We must recognize first and foremost that Cuba and Venezuela fought for economic sovereignty against American corporate interests. We must recognize that the United States have been engaging in cruel forms of collective punishment since the day these nations dared to assert their own sovereignty.”
Sebastian Miscenich, a member of the FRSO, told the crowd, “For over 25 years in Venezuela, the U.S. waged a campaign of economic sanctions and sabotage, slanderous lies in the media. This year, it expanded to open acts of war. Every tactic has failed so far because the Bolivarian Revolution is rooted in the will of the Venezuelan people, and the people refuse to kneel.”
Nova Morra, a member of the UAWC, said, “One of our neighbors, Julio Cesar Irungaray, was kidnapped, medically tortured and deported by ICE; and the people whose job it is to keep you safe will gun you down if you’re the wrong skin color. The only people who can keep us safe are each other, our communities, our neighbors”
Chants included, “We will say it every time! U.S. sanctions are a crime!” and “Donald trump you’re a liar! No more wars for empire!”
After the speeches people started to march. They held their banners proudly, marching around Washington Square, leading chants such as “¡El pueblo unidos, jamas sera vencido! The people united will never be defeated!” And “From Cuba to the Middle East, we demand justice, we demand peace!”