San Jose, CA – On Saturday, July 6, around 20 people gathered in San Jose for a protest in solidarity with the national mobilizations against NATO and RIMPAC that are occurring in Hawaii, San Diego and Washington D.C.

RIMPAC, which stands for the Rim of the Pacific, is a series of maritime military exercises held by the U.S. and its allies in Hawaii. This year it is being held from June 27 to August 2, while the NATO summit being held in Washington DC from July 9-11. Both RIMPAC and NATO are examples of the U.S.’s military encroachment on the rest of the world, ranging from its use of the Philippines as a military outpost to its warmongering acts against China and Russia.

Organizers from San Jose Against War set up a table at the corner of Stevens Creek Boulevard and Santana Row, in the middle of one of Northern California’s busiest shopping districts. Attendees passed out flyers to people demanding that funding for NATO be redirected to meet people’s needs here at home.

The protest began with chants of “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!” and “No more U.S. war, no more NATO war!” Andy Schafer from San Jose Against War gave a speech explaining NATO’s history as a vehicle for the U.S. to consolidate its power and weaken the Soviet Union after World War II. Members of the new San Jose State University chapter of the League of Filipino Students then spoke about how the U.S. exploits and oppresses the Philippines in order to use the nation as a de facto military outpost in its aggression against China. 

Joshua Cardoza from California United described NATO and the U.S.’s role in ushering in imperialist exploitation in oppressed nations, saying, “Whether it’s United Fruit Company installing right-wing dictatorships in South America, or the Shock Doctrine used throughout Eastern Europe and Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union, [resulting in the sale of] their manufacturing and natural resources to oligarchs. It has evolved into endless wars in the Middle East”

Philip Nguyen from San Jose Against War then spoke about the role that the U.S. military has played in the exploitation and national oppression of Hawaii, saying, “The military operations held in U.S.-occupied Hawaii have poisoned their water, destroyed their land, and is the cause of a huge uptick in sexual violence on the island.” 

Nguyen continued, “U.S. imperialism and the monopoly capitalists demand that our tax dollars fund their wars that steal land and resources and exploit people for cheap labor to generate massive profits, rather than using it here to fund housing, healthcare and education.”

The protest was called by San Jose Against War and California United in solidarity with the organizers of the national mobilizations, Cancel RIMPAC and the Resist NATO Coalition.

#SanJoseCA #CaliforniaUnited #SanJoseAgainstWar #SJAW #CancelRIMPAC #ResistNATOCoalition #NATO #ResistNATO