On August 17, in dozens of cities across the world, people’s movements, left parties and trade unions, participated in an international day of action in solidarity with Venezuela, facing right-wing coup attempts and attacks on its electoral process following the victory of sitting president Nicolás Maduro.

    By Peoples Dispatch

The day of action is part of a solidarity campaign “Defend democracy and sovereignty! Hands off Venezuela!” that was launched on August 9 by the International Peoples’ Assembly, ALBA Movimientos, the Simón Bolívar Institute, and the Assembly of Caribbean People.

The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) Amilcar Cabral Political-Ideological Training School had an online video-conference on 10 August with Guinean students in various parts of the world expressing solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution of… pic.twitter.com/NMvUDp3mQu

— International Peoples’ Assembly (@peoplesassembl_) August 17, 2024

In Guinea-Bissau, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) held a conference on August 10, in which Guinean students expressed their solidarity with Venezuela.

In Seoul, South Korea, activists mobilize on the International Day of Action “Defend Democracy and Sovereignty”—#HandsOffVenezuela. They call for international respect for the results of the July 28th presidential elections and oppose U.S. intervention in Venezuela.

pic.twitter.com/1J06ufj8Cs

— International Peoples’ Assembly (@peoplesassembl_) August 17, 2024

In several countries, people’s movements paid visits to the embassies of Venezuela in their cities to show their support for the Bolivarian Revolution and its democracy. During the destabilization and coup attempts in 2019, Venezuela’s embassies were under attack by far-right opposition activists who in some cases were aided by the local governments to take control of the installations, as in Washington DC, in complete violation of the Vienna Convention. Organizations in Vigo, Galicia; in Pretoria, South Africa; in Luanda, Angola; in Oslo, Norway; in Serbia, Egypt, Mali, and Senegal organized solidarity meetings at their respective Venezuelan embassies.

In Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the League of Young Peasants of the DRC (Ljp-RDC) held up signs with the slogan “Hands off Venezuela!” In Seoul, South Korea, activists held up a banner that read “No world war provocations! Down with U.S. imperialism!” In Rome, Italy, activists held a banner with slogans in support of Maduro and “the Chavista masses”.

The people of Mali mobilize in solidarity with Venezuela on this International Day of Action in defense of popular democracy and sovereignty, and in rejection of fascism and U.S. intervention in Venezuela. #HandsOffVenezuela
@EmbaVEMali pic.twitter.com/rRK2wmngfQ

— International Peoples’ Assembly (@peoplesassembl_) August 17, 2024

Activists also held solidarity actions throughout the United States, which has openly called for regime change following Maduro’s victory, in line with its role in orchestrating undemocratic coups in Latin America throughout the past century. On August 9, U.S.-based activists were already mobilizing outside of the New York Times building in New York City, denouncing the so-called paper of record for manufacturing consent for regime change in Venezuela. On August 17, activists in New York City organized a rally at the headquarters of Fox News, and in Boston members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) protested outside of the Boston Globe headquarters in Boston. In San Francisco, activists from the PSL also protested outside the headquarters of the social media giant owned by billionaire Elon Musk, X, to condemn his role in fueling the campaign of hate and misinformation on social media.

August 17 was also a day of mobilization within Venezuela, both the right-wing opposition and chavismo mobilized in Caracas and other cities to showcase the popular support. However, the much expected “Great World Protest For The Truth” presided over by María Corina Machado, was unable to mobilize more than a couple thousand people. Internationally, the right-wing international day of action drew crowds in Madrid, Santiago, Miami, and New York City.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands took over the center of Caracas in a mass march led by Nicolás Maduro and the distinct social and political movements and organizations part of chavismo.

https://mronline.org/2024/08/24/the-world-stands-with-venezuela-amid-right-wing-destabilization-campaign/

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IMAGE AT TOP:

Front page of "Le Petit Parisien" depicting the bombardment of Fort San Carlos.

The Bombardment of Fort San Carlos occurred during the Venezuelan Crisis on January 17, 1903, when two warships of the Imperial German Navy tried to penetrate into Lake Maracaibo but were repulsed by the garrison of Fort San Carlos de la Barra after a brief exchange of fire.[2]

On January 17, the gunboat SMS Panther and unprotected cruiser SMS Falke were chasing a merchant schooner which had evaded the blockade and entered the lake. Both ships intended to enter the lake and blockade the city of Maracaibo.[3]

Guarding the entrance that connects the lake with the Gulf of Venezuela was the Castle of San Carlos de la Barra. The shallow waters that connected Lake Maracaibo with the sea were only passable by major ships in the strait that separated San Carlos from the island of Zapara, and even there a local pilot was needed to navigate the sandbanks and shallow waters of the passage.

The captain of Panther, not knowing the bathymetry of shallow waters of the site, ran aground on sandbars between the islands of San Carlos and Zapara, near the Castle of San Carlos de la Barra, commanded by General Jorge Antonio Bello. This was within range of the Castle's artillery. Soon after, the ships began to bombard the fortress and the Venezuelan troops responded. The Venezuelan artillerymen Manuel Quevedo and Carlos José Cárdenas, with an 80 mm German-made Krupp cannon, scored several hits on Panther, leaving it severely damaged. After half an hour of combat, the Germans withdrew. Six people were injured in the Castle of San Carlos. Three days later, on 20 January, the German protected cruiser SMS Vineta arrived from Puerto Cabello in relief of the damaged Panther. Vinetabombarded the Castle of San Carlos for eight hours. Intentionally or not, the ship's fire also reached the nearby port, killing between 25 and 40 civilians.

Four days later Panther returned to reduce the fort, accompanied by the protected cruiser SMS Vineta, with bigger guns. For eight hours the ships bombarded the fort. The Venezuelan garrison, although outgunned, fired back, but by the end of the conflict Fort San Carlos was in ruins and burning. Shells also hit the nearby port; whether intentional or not, the bombardment killed 25 civilians, prompting the arrest of German and British citizens by Venezuelan authorities.[4][5]

The action had not been approved by the British commander of the "Particular Service Squadron" Commodore Robert Archibald James Montgomerie, who had been warned by Admiralty after the Puerto Cabello bombardment of 13 December not to engage in such action without consulting London; the message was not passed to the German commander, who had been told previously to follow the English commander's lead. The incident caused "considerable negative reaction in the United States against Germany". The Germans said that the Venezuelans fired first, which the British concurred with but declared the bombardment "unfortunate and inopportune" nonetheless.

The German Foreign Office said that Panther's attempted incursion into the lagoon of Maracaibo had been motivated by a desire to ensure the effective blockade of Maracaibo port, by preventing it from being supplied across the adjacent Colombian border.[citation needed] Subsequently US president Theodore Rooseveltinformed the German Ambassador that Admiral George Dewey had orders to keep the Caribbean fleet ready to sail from Puerto Rico to Venezuela at an hour's notice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Fort_San_Carlos

The Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903[a] was a naval blockade imposed against Venezuela by Great Britain, Germany, and Italy from December 1902 to February 1903, after President Cipriano Castro refused to pay foreign debts and damages suffered by European citizens in recent Venezuelan civil wars. Castro assumed that the American Monroe Doctrine would see Washington intervene to prevent European military intervention. However, at the time, United States president Theodore Roosevelt and his State Department saw the doctrine as applying only to European seizure of territory, rather than intervention per se. With prior promises that no such seizure would occur, the U.S. was officially neutral and allowed the action to go ahead without objection. The blockade saw Venezuela's small navy quickly disabled, but Castro refused to give in, and instead agreed in principle to submit some of the claims to international arbitration, which he had previously rejected. Germany initially objected to this, arguing that some claims should be accepted by Venezuela without arbitration.

Years later, Roosevelt claimed he forced the Germans to back down by sending his own larger fleet to Venezuela under and threatening war if the Germans landed. However, he made no preparations for war against a major power, nor did he alert the Senate or officials at the State, War, and Navy Departments.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_of_1902%E2%80%931903

Image by Willy Stöwer depicting the blockade

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