On 20 December the Revolutionary Communist Group and other groups from the British chapter of the anti-fascist international came together in Trafalgar Square to demand an end to British support for US imperialism in Venezuela. Groups in attendance included the RCP, CPGB-ML, Workers’ Revolutionary Party and Platform 12 October. From London, in the belly of the beast, we echoed the demands of the risen Venezuelan people who are taking action to defend their Bolivarian Revolution.
Comrades at the demonstration spoke with clarity about the need for all anti-imperialists, socialists and communists to oppose the US’s clear attempt at an invasion of Venezuela. The imperialists have gone completely mask off with their real motivations: the Trump administration has plainly stated its desire to acquire Venezuela’s oil, gold, and other precious minerals. Venezuela in the decades since the Bolivarian revolution has made its own path towards socialism, building up the institutions of popular democracy despite always-increasing US aggression. The US doesn’t just want Venezuela’s resources, it wants to eliminate the threat of a good example. We must not only defend Venezuela as a sovereign nation, but as one which represents a clear alternative to capitalist, liberal democracy, which has shown how life can be organised differently to serve the needs of the many and not the few. We must defend the gains of the Bolivarian revolution!
Speakers also pointed out the role of the British state, as the principal enemy for British anti-imperialists. Britain is not innocent, nor is it a lap dog of US imperialism. Back in 2019, Britain was already peddling the idea of intervention in Venezuela, to ‘restore democracy’, a lie the current government continues to parrot, despite the democratic election of Nicolas Maduro. Principled support for Venezuela necessarily includes striking down liberal rhetoric which paints Maduro as a ‘ruthless dictator’, and Marina Corina Machado, a right-wing, Zionist, imperialist puppet as the saviour of the Venezuelan people.
Over the past few months, the British state has consistently offered its support to the US’s imperialist aggression in the hopes of getting its own share of the spoils. Similarly, Britain participates in Cuba’s international isolation, with British companies and banks extrajudicially enforcing the blockade on Cuba. Britain has always sought to plunder and exploit the people and resources of Latin America, independently of US pressure on the matter.
As we marched from Trafalgar Square towards Downing Street, comrades on the mic spoke about the achievements made by Venezuela since the Bolivarian revolution. While the US and Britain plot the plunder of the world, Venezuela has offered its support to the people of Palestine and Cuba. Any principled anti-imperialist movement in Britain will include the defence of socialist Cuba and of the risen people of Venezuela and Palestine as core political positions. We must defend the right of the Venezuelan people to self-determination! We say, hands off Venezuela!
Long live the Bolivarian Revolution!
No to imperialist war!
