On December 12, the 21st Century Che Guevara (Defense Brigade) and the People’s Democracy Party (PDP) held a political rally in front of the US Embassy in the ‘Republic of Korea (ROK)’ under the banner: “Denounce US Imperialism’s Seizure of Venezuelan Oil Tanker! Withdraw USFK Occupying the ‘ROK’!”
The participants powerfully chanted the following slogans: “Denounce US imperialism, the bandit aggressor!”, “Denounce US imperialism’s seizure of the Venezuelan oil tanker!”, “US imperialism, take your hands off Venezuela!”, “US military, cease your maneuvers to invade Venezuela!”, “Withdraw USFK, the bandit occupying force in the ‘ROK’!”, “Denounce the warmongering reckless remarks of Machado, the female Netanyahu!”, “Support the anti-imperialist people’s government, the Maduro government!”, “Viva Maduro! (Victory for Maduro!)”, “Viva Venezuela! (Victory for Venezuela!)” and “Victoria Siempre! Venceremos! (Until the victory, always!)”.
The representative of the PDP said: “Yesterday, the Trump administration illegally seized a supertanker off the coast of Venezuela and shamelessly engaged in bandit piracy, declaring that the crude oil carried by the tanker would belong to the US. Following the plunder of CITGO, a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-run oil company, this illegal seizure of the oil tanker shows that while they use pretexts like the ‘migration problem’ or ‘drug trafficking’ to militarily and politically pressure Venezuela, they are ultimately running wild to steal Venezuelan oil.”
The representative continued to warn: “The Venezuelan people are assembling into militias, with the government, the military, and the people united as one, heightening their resolve for an anti-imperialist resistance. The solidarity of the Latin American people is also firm. Cuba strongly condemned the US military’s attack on the oil tanker in the Caribbean. China announced it would strengthen cooperation by promoting the ‘Five Major Projects’ for the joint construction of a China-Latin America Community of Shared Future, and Russia, going beyond its recent promise to support Venezuela with armed forces against US aggression, saw Presidents Putin and Maduro reaffirming mutual support and agreeing to advance major bilateral projects through a phone conversation today. The continuation of military threats and political pressure against Venezuela by imperialist US will become an occasion for them to dig their own grave.”
The representative further emphasized: “Imperialist US forces, which are engaged in aggressive maneuvers in Latin America while simultaneously occupying the ‘ROK’ and provoking an East Asian war on the Korean Peninsula, are no different. The US imperialism that seeks to overthrow the people’s government to steal natural resources, including oil, in Venezuela is no different from the US imperialism that extorts $950 billion under the name of ‘investment in the US’ from the ‘ROK’. This is why the people of Venezuela and the ‘ROK’ are compelled to struggle together on the anti-imperialist, anti-US front.”
Kim Jang-min, Standing Research Commissioner of the Phoenix Political Economy Research Institute, exposed: “Donald Trump confidently stated that in a phone call with President Nicolás Maduro, (he told him) to go into self-imposed exile within a week. By what authority does President Trump demand the resignation of the President of Venezuela, a sovereign state? President Trump is continuing the vicious methods the US CIA used in the past to assassinate Cuba’s President Fidel Castro—methods by which they attempted to assassinate President Castro no less than 638 times. A few years ago, they tried and failed to kill President Maduro with a bomb from a drone.”
He then lamented: “Why is the US taking military action against Venezuela and other leftist governments in Central and South America? A few days ago, they announced a National Security Strategy. In it, Trump publicly declared that he would militarily strengthen domination over Central and South America to block illegal immigration and drug inflow, and that he would not hesitate to take military aggression if necessary. What connection does Venezuela have with drugs?”
He further asserted: “President Trump attacks countries in Central and South America to bolster their fallen national pride, while saying nothing to countries with nuclear weapons like China, Russia, and the DPRK. They have already invaded Granada and Panama, and failed in their attempt to invade Cuba. If the US invades Venezuela, the aggression will come to naught, meeting the resistance of Venezuela’s leader and the eight million militia members.”
A member of the 21st Century Che Guevara (Defense Brigade) criticized: “The inflation caused by Trump’s tariffs is severe. The US Federal Reserve decided to lower interest rates, stating that the damage to employment from tariffs is even greater. Living costs are rising, unemployment claims are increasing at the fastest rate, and support for Trump’s economic policy has hit a record low of 31%. Despite declaring a ‘War on Drugs,’ the Trump administration recently pardoned the former Honduran president who served 45 years for drug smuggling, and is promoting legalization by lowering cannabis from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 (in the drug classification system). This is completely different from their scheme to slander Venezuela—a ‘drug-free country’—as a hotbed for drug smuggling, and the leader of the anti-imperialist people’s government as the ‘head of a drug organization.’ This is a dual behavior of imperialist US.”
She further stated: “The more the US dreams of becoming a world hegemonic power and leads the way in invasion and plunder, the more the destruction of imperialism will be accelerated. The entirety of Latin America is uniting alongside the Venezuelan people on a single anti-imperialist front, and anti-imperialist forces around the world are practically demonstrating firm solidarity for anti-imperialism and independence with Venezuela.”
She went on to emphasize: “Just as the Spanish Civil War, the prelude to World War 2, was a clash between anti-fascism and fascism, the war in Venezuela, in the context of World War 3, will be a grand clash between anti-imperialism and imperialism. Like the International Brigades that dedicated themselves to the Spanish Civil War, the 21st Century Che Guevara (Defense Brigade) will respond to the practical actions demanded of anti-imperialist forces in this current period with solidarity and struggle, defending Venezuela and safeguarding the people of the ‘ROK.'”
The participants sang the “International.”
