Paris, France: Success of the Solidarity Rally with Venezuela
Hereby we share an unofficial translation of an article by La Cause du Peuple.
On Friday, January 9th, in response to a call by around twenty democratic, revolutionary, and anti-imperialist organizations, several hundred people gathered despite freezing temperatures and heavy rain. The clear slogans were echoed by all the organizations present: No to kidnapping! Yankees, out of Latin America!
Organized at the initiative of the Ligue de la Jeunesse Révolutionnaire (LJR), the core of the call was to recall that the main factor in the situation in Venezuela lies with the armed masses, the only force capable of defending the country against aggression! As many historical and current examples have shown, imperialism can and must be defeated. This is what the struggles of peoples for independence have taught us, sometimes directed against the greatest armies in the world: in Vietnam, Algeria, and of course in Palestine.
Various Latin American organizations from Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela where present at the mobilization, and spoke out recalling the threat that US imperialism represents to the entire South American continent. The Yankees and their monopolies still consider this continent as their backyard, organizing to prevent at all costs the seizure of “their” resources by China.
Union pour la Reconstruction Communiste [Union for Communist Reconstruction (URC)] and various pan-African organizations, such as the Réunionese party Ka Ubuntu and the Pan-African Brigade for Palestine, denounced the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and the hypocrisy of a certain left or so-called “anti-imperialists”, who equate the Venezuelan government and Yankee imperialism. This is a open position, shared by all the signatory organizations, which must be welcomed, as confusion reigns in certain ranks – whether “radical” or reformist – of university or petty-bourgeois activism.
The Fédération Syndicale Étudiante (FSE) stressed the need to mobilize on campuses to defend the anti-imperialist point of view, recalling that student mobilization plays an important role in internationalist mobilizations. The leading role played by students in the campaign for the liberation of communist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is an illustration of this.
The internationalist spirit was expressed with slogans such as “Yankee go home!” and “Viva la lucha del pueblo Venezuelano! (Long live the struggle of the Venezuelan people!)“, which echoed widely for over two hours, culminating in the burning of the US flag in the square.
Banners from the Anti-Imperialist League (AIL) were visible, raising awareness about the upcoming foundation conference of the French section of the organization, scheduled for February 28th in Paris. The success of this rally, organized before the January 3rd attack and held on the eve of new mobilizations widely spread, shows that an additional step has been taken towards the union of the active forces of the anti-imperialist and revolutionary movement in the country.
