Oppose US Intervention in Venezuela – Lift the Sanctions, No to War!
The Stop the War Steering Committee:
1. Condemns the US administration’s attempt to organise ‘regime change’ in Venezuela, which is illegal under international law. Trump is attempting to oust the current Venezuela government including through explicit agitation for a military coup, the imposition of harsh economic sanctions and threats of US military intervention.
2. Opposes the Tory UK government’s support for the US ‘regime change’ offensive in Venezuela and calls upon the Bank of England to release the $1.3 billion worth of Venezuelan gold it is illegitimately holding.
3. Believes that the Trump US administration’s intervention in Venezuela is not about promoting “democracy”, “human rights” or “freedom” but that a major motivation is the US regaining control over the country’s oil reserves which are currently considered to be the largest in the world.
4. Notes that the former United Nations Rapporteur Alfredo De Zayas describes the US sanctions against Venezuela as “economic war” and recommends that these sanctions should be investigated as possible “crimes against humanity” by the International Criminal Court.
5. Believes that Trump’s assertions that US military intervention against Venezuela is one of the “options on the table” is extremely dangerous and alarming. A US-led war on Venezuela would cause horrific devastation for the people of Venezuela and the entire region of Latin America. The lessons of the US-led wars on Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere, which caused the deaths of more than a million people with millions more injured and displaced, is that US military intervention produces catastrophic results. US interventions also have a bloody history in Latin America itself, including with previous US backed coups and military juntas, such as in Chile under Pinochet.
6. Resolves to support the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign’s initiatives against Trump’s ‘regime change’ change in Venezuela nationally and for Stop the War local groups to support campaigns and events opposed to US intervention in Venezuela.
The motion above was passed at the February 2019 Steering Committee meeting.
