Tacoma unites to protest attacks on Venezuela
By Jack Koncar and Jon Staub
Tacoma, WA – On January 4, anti-war protesters held rallies in front of the U.S. District Court this weekend to denounce the U.S. Military attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Nearly 100 protesters gathered at the U.S. District Courthouse to hear speakers from community organizations like the Pierce County Immigration Alliance, Bayan Washington, About Face, and Climate Alliance of the South Sound.
Afterwards they marched to nearby Tollefson Plaza where they blocked the intersection in front of the Tacoma Art Museum to demand an end to military intervention in Venezuela. This marks a major escalation in Tacoma’s anti-war movement as more groups join together to protest Trump’s attacks on Venezuelan independence.
One attendee, Riley Cetnar stated, “The United States isn’t just going after Venezuela, it’s going after all of us. It’s going after the people in the Philippines and going after Palestine. It’s going after unions and trans people and immigrants in the United States. It’s going after all of us.”
Venezuelan government officials have described the attacks as a brazen violation of international law and a threat to peace and stability in the region, a charge that they promised to bring before the UN. They have mobilized the country’s armed forces and called upon the working people of Venezuela to join a mass popular mobilization in order to repel further incursions from the United States.
For 25 years, the Bolivarian Revolution has been an ongoing social and political project aimed at freeing Venezuela and Latin America at large from the chains of imperialism, and these attacks are not the United States’ first attempt to decapitate its leadership. In 2002 a U.S.-backed coup attempted to oust then-president and first leader of the Bolivarian Revolution Hugo Chávez. After the brave actions of loyal military members and the population as a whole, Chávez was returned to power after only 47 hours.
As it stands, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as acting president of Venezuela and vows to not take these vulgar acts of aggression lying down, promising to resist the United States’ imperial ambitions by any means necessary.
On Saturday morning, Tacomans woke up hearing about the attacks which had taken place in Caracas, Venezuela around 2 a.m. local time the night before. That same day, Freedom Road Socialist Organization hosted a press conference with other organizations to share insight into the history of U.S. Imperialism. This action, along with a DSA rally hosted later that day, helped to mobilize the people of Tacoma to take to the streets on Sunday. Each of these events were planned with less than 24 hours’ notice and numerous other organizations endorsed each action
The people of Tacoma won’t rest until Trump ends his attacks on Venezuelan independence. Members of the community have already begun planning for a “One Year of Resisting Trump” march on January 24. For the people of Venezuela are standing firm and the people of Tacoma stand with them.