Venezuela, Caracas – When we arrived in Caracas, we had a 30-minute bus ride from the airport to the hotel where we were staying. Watching the city go by and the beautiful mountains in the background, there were dozens of beautiful murals painted for Bolívar, Chavez and Maduro celebrating the Bolivarian revolution.

During the International People’s Assembly for Sovereignty and Peace of our Americas conference, there were many chants from all over Latin America -¡Viva Bolívar! ¡Viva Maduro! ¡Viva Diaz-Canales! ¡Viva Sheinabum!

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression has long supported progressive leaders like President Maduro, and I have been to hands off Venezuela protests where the people supported Maduro, but it truly surprised me to see a room full of people chanting for their leaders. In the United States, I cannot remember the last time I really saw a large crowd of people chanting with love and pride for a politician. Once in a while Trump supporters might try to disrupt our actions, but they often chant to show what they oppose rather than what they stand for.

At home, people have no sense of ownership and pride in most politicians. They get elected on empty promises that no one expects them to follow through on. It was amazing to meet people who live in places where they truly can have governments that believe in the people, and fight for them. In the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Repression we fight for community control of the police, for the right of the people to control what police do, how they do it, and to convict them when they commit crimes. Seeing the love and pride that other countries have for governments where they feel their leaders are fighting for them instead of repressing them for it was an amazing experience.

The more surprising thing for me at the conference was how many people were extremely grateful to see Americans organizing for peace, and were worried about our safety on return. As the United States tries to go to war with Venezuela, I was not sure what people would think of us. However, people had many questions about videos of specific police murders they had seen, ICE kidnappings, National Guard occupations, and other repression. They were incredibly concerned about Black liberation and immigrant rights in the United States.

People from all over Latin America celebrated when they heard about our struggles against heightened police repression, especially with George Floyd in Minneapolis and the small town of Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020, in supporting student encampments for Palestine, and then ongoing struggles against ICE kidnappings and opposing troops on the streets, with the uprising in LA, the defiance in Chicago, and campaign against troops in DC this year. These struggles are also unfolding in Portland and New Orleans where we also lead protests and movements.

When they asked if we were scared of the police or of repression, I told them that we believe that justice is worth any level of struggle. I also told them how we had won a campaign against FBI repression by freeing Chicano activist Alejandro Orellana in LA.

One Cuban delegate said to me that the Alliance's organizing “prove[s] your resistance in your situation.” As I prepare to return to the United States soon, I am excited to bring all of the excitement and love I experienced from around the world to the struggle for Black and Chicano liberation at home.

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