https://themilitant.com/2019/05/18/us-hands-off-venezuela-us-hands-off-cuba/
US hands off Venezuela! US hands off Cuba!
US rulers say ???all options open??? against Venezuela
??By Seth Galinsky
Vol. 83/No. 21
May 27, 2019
Despite defeat of U.S.-backed coup attempt, Washington continues to
threaten Venezuela, and also Cuba. In Sydney, Australia, opponents of
U.S. intervention join May 5 march.
Militant/Baskaran Appu
Despite defeat of U.S.-backed coup attempt, Washington continues to
threaten Venezuela, and also Cuba. In Sydney, Australia, opponents of
U.S. intervention join May 5 march.
Washington is continuing its bipartisan push for the overthrow of the
Venezuelan government, backing the opposition???s self-proclaimed
president, Juan Guaid??, and saying all options, including a direct U.S.
military intervention, are still ???on the table.???
At the same time the U.S. rulers are tightening the economic screws on
Cuba ??? even threatening a ???complete embargo??? ??? on the slanderous pretext
that Cuban revolutionaries are responsible for ???propping up??? the
government of Venezuelan President Nicol??s Maduro.
After Guaid?? initiated a failed coup outside an army base April 30,
accompanied by a handful of National Guard defectors, the Maduro
government stripped the immunity of a half-dozen members of the
opposition-controlled National Assembly accused of joining the conspiracy.
National Assembly Vice President Edgar Zambrano was arrested May 8.
Charges include treason, conspiracy, civil rebellion, criminal
association and ???continued hatred.??? At least one other deputy sought
refuge in the Argentine Embassy in Caracas to avoid arrest. But the
government has so far not attempted to detain Guaid??.
Maduro issued a presidential decree demoting and expelling 55 armed
forces officials accused of taking part in the coup attempt, including
Division Gen. Manuel Christopher Figuera, chief of the SEBIN
intelligence agency, and National Guard Lt. Col. Ilich S??nchez. He was
filmed with Guaid?? April 30 calling on other soldiers to ???come join us.???
Imperialism???s crocodile tears
U.S. officials have been crying crocodile tears for the people of
Venezuela, who face the impact of the deep capitalist economic and
social crisis. Washington hoped that the shortage of affordable food,
lack of medicine, violent crime, skyrocketing inflation and frequent
power outages would drive working people into the pro-imperialist
opposition???s arms.
While the support for the Maduro government has fallen substantially,
most working people remain suspicious of Guaid?? and his gang. They know
that the opposition forces defend the interests of the capitalist class
and U.S. imperialism. And that U.S. sanctions and intervention make the
crisis they face worse.
Guaid?? told the Italian daily La Stampa?? May 10 that ???if the Americans
were to propose a military intervention I would probably accept it.??? But
even many Guaid?? supporters oppose a U.S. invasion. ???That would spark a
civil war,??? law student Pasqual Paulino told the Washington Post?? at a
protest in Caracas May 2.
US invents 20,000 Cuban troops
White House officials try to justify their stepped-up threats against
Cuba with the slanderous charge that Cuba has 20,000 armed soldiers in
Venezuela.
The liberal Washington Post, which shares the Democrats??? and
Republicans??? hostility toward both Venezuela and Cuba, admitted May 2
that it???s just not possible to ???hide 20,000 to 25,000 [Cuban] soldiers.???
In fact, the Cuban volunteers are overwhelmingly doctors and nurses, as
well as a smaller number of teachers and sports or dance instructors.
Vice President Mike Pence insisted May 7 that ???Cuban agents??? control the
???military and intelligence services??? and that ???key decisions about
Venezuela???s future are as much made in Havana as they are in Caracas.???
The purpose of these slanders and outright lies is to justify U.S.
imperialist violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and the escalation of
the decadeslong U.S. economic war against the Cuban Revolution.
Their threats and preparations are deadly serious. After the coup
attempt failed, ???U.S. officials have since been more cautious in their
predictions of Maduro???s swift exit,??? the Washington Post reported May 8.
You can be sure they will keep pushing.
Sanctions tightened on Cuba
The U.S. government has begun implementing its latest round of anti-Cuba
sanctions, announced April 17, including allowing Title III of the 1996
Helms-Burton Act to go into effect for the first time.
Title III allows U.S. citizens to sue for compensation from any company
or individual that profits from the use of ???their??? property that was
nationalized during the early years of the revolution.
U.S. citizens filed suit May 2 against Carnival Corp., on the grounds
that the cruise operator was embarking and disembarking passengers on
port facilities and waterfront property that their families owned at the
time of the revolution.
ExxonMobil Corp. sued two Cuban companies May 2 over oil refineries and
service stations nationalized by the revolution in 1960. The oil barons
are demanding some $280 million.
The U.S. moves are aimed at exacerbating the economic challenges in
Cuba. On May 10 Cuba???s domestic commerce department announced it was
rationing eggs, rice, beans and sausages and that state-run stores would
also get enough chicken for the public before it can be sold wholesale.
???This is the right response,??? Cuban tobacco factory worker Lazara Garc??a
told The Associated Press. ???Without this, there???ll be hoarders.???
In a May 2 statement, Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Party candidate
for mayor in Dallas, noted that the threats against Venezuela and Cuba
???are bipartisan, with Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and many other leading
Democratic Party voices joining in the warlike drumbeat.???
She called on working people to demand ???an immediate halt to
Washington???s dangerous violations of Venezuela???s sovereignty and war
threats against the Cuban Revolution.???
???Only the people of Venezuela have the right to decide their own
future,??? Kennedy added. She issued a call to action, urging working
people to speak out and say, ???U.S. hands off Venezuela! U.S. hands off
Cuba!???
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In This Issue
Front Page Articles ???Join Protests for a Woman???s Right to Abortion!
???Washington sends carrier fleet to Mideast, threatens Iran
???US hands off Venezuela! US hands off Cuba!
???Democrat witch hunt against Trump attacks workers??? rights
???Join in effort to go over the top in ???Militant???, books, fund drive!
???ACLU, National Lawyers Guild back ???Militant??? fight against ban
???US-China rulers??? trade dispute part of broader rivalry in Pacific
Feature Articles ???Roundup: Uber drivers strike for wages, respect and a
union
Also In This Issue ???Brutality of British rule in India reflected in
Amritsar massacre
???Albany forum panel discusses fight against police brutality
???New York City Hall moves to slash funds for public libraries
???Working class is the defender of learning and culture
???Farmers organize aid for flood-stricken Nebraskans
???Socialist Workers Party to host June 13-15 Active Workers Conference in
Ohio
???May Day brigade volunteers aid farmers in Cuba
???Campaign to expand reach of ???Militant,??? books, fund April 6 ??? May 28
(week five)
Editorials ???Bring ???Militant???, books, fund drive home!
On the Picket Line ???Amid construction boom, crane collapse in Seattle
kills 4 people
???Cedars-Sinai hospital workers picket over staffing, conditions
Books of the Month ???The class struggle is the driving force of US and
world history
25, 50 and 75 years ago
Corrections
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David Hume
??? In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable
degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral
evidence. A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence. ???
??? David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
