Activists gather to support Venezuelan democracy

>Archive - PWW Print Edition Archive - 2002 Editions - Jun 29, 2002


 

NEW YORK – On Sunday, June 9, the Harlem/Washington Heights Friends of the People’s Weekly World held a forum on the dramatic events in the country of Venezuela.

An enthusiastic audience of activists from the community, including participants from various U.S.-based Hispanic organizations, heard Blair Bertaccini, a trade unionist, Latin America scholar and solidarity activist, who recently returned from attending the Congress of the Venezuelan Communist Party, and Wilson Spencer, well-known left activist in New York’s Dominican community.

The two speakers gave a comprehensive picture of the exciting political process in Venezuela. Both speakers emphasized the need for the U.S. people to put an end to the Bush administration policies in support of the Venezuelan oligarchy. Such policies, they said, are designed to undermine and destroy the democratic process in Venezuela.

At the end of the presentations there was a lively question-and-answer session with many enthusiastic speeches in solidarity with the courageous people of Venezuela.

Everyone present agreed that the newly developing U.S. movement for peace and justice needs to include in its agenda the urgent question of solidarity with the people of Venezuela.