Peoples Organization for Progress: Stop Trump’s Illegal US Attacks on Venezuela Press Event Outside Newark Fed Building Dec 30
This activity is covered in this news report by the Newark Patch.
On Tuesday, December 30 outside the Federal Building in Downtown Newark, NJ, the Peoples Organization for Progress and allied organizations joined together for a press conference to denounce and call for an end to the Trump administration’s dangerous escalation toward total war and the killing of 100 innocent boaters off the coast of Latin America in recent months.
The timing of this press conference is responsive to the announcement by Trump that he has escalated the aggressive actions toward Venezuela with an attack on a “major facility”. (Since the event it has been reported that on some recent day the CIA had carried out a drone attack on a docking facility – but the details are still sketchy.)
The following are videos of the presenters at the press conference which included:
Lawrence Hamm, Chair of Peoples Organization for Progress
Paula Rogovin, coordinator of the Teaneck Peace and Justice Vigil
Zayid Muhammad coordinator, NJ Communities for Accountable Policing
Tova of f Pal-Awda NY/NJ
Ryan Novosielski
Bob WItanek, Editor of FightBackBetter
Adam Marshall, US Army Veteran
Lawrence Hamm Opening Remarks Define Objectives of Event, Excerpt:
“We call for an end to the hostilities, all hostilities against Venezuela and to lift the economic blockade. We oppose this war because it is an illegal war. Only Congress has the power to declare war. And this Congress of these United States has not declared war on Venezuela. But the Trump administration has taken upon itself to violate the constitution and openly declare war on Venezuela. He has moved thousands of troops into the Caribbean. He has moved the General R. Ford battleship, the largest aircraft carrier . . . into the Caribbean. They have engaged in piracy with the economic blockade. They have seized Venezuelan oil tankers carrying millions of barrels of oil and have openly announced that they are seizing the oil. This is piracy. There’s no other name to describe except theft. This is theft and piracy and illegal. Yes, sir.”
Paula Rogovin parallels the false narrative of the Trump administration with the false narrative of the US when it falsely accused Iraq of having weapons of mass destruction causing 100s of 1000s of war casualties there. Excerpt:
“Before the Iraq war . . . they convinced many people that we had to go to war because Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. That was a fraud. And because of those lies and because of that fraud, hundreds of thousands of people died. Millions of people were displaced internally in Iraq and or abroad outside of Iraq. Millions of people’s lives were ruined. And here we are again. Another war for oil. That was a war for oil. This is another war for oil. It’s illegal. It’s wrong. And we have to stop it.“
Zayid Muhammad, coordinator of NJ Communities for Accountable Policing highlights the omnipresence of white supremacy in every war as well as in every US policy. Excerpt:
‘You see, this thing that we call fascism that we associate with Trump is never to be separated from the larger violent global monster of imperialism and expanding empire. They use that same violence to domestically or places in other lands to take what they want without paying for it. And it ain’t just Hitler and Mussolini that did it. . . .
Donald Trump is facing resistance over what he’s doing domestically. So he’s pulling this other white privilege out of the bag. Let me bomb some people of color and make everybody fall in love with patriotism. And you don’t criticize your government when you’re at war. There are a whole lot of us who see through the bs of what he’s doing domestically and who see through the bs of what he’s doing internationally. He just bombed Venezuela. “
Tova of Pal-Awda NY/NJ reminds us of the need to link the fight in opposition of US war on Venezuela with the struggles to end genocide in Gaza and the blockade on Cuba. Excerpt:
“Trump is now announcing some new sanctions against Venezuela and Iran, trying to tie those two countries together related to the oil trade. Yesterday he met with war criminal Netanyahu. He totally absolved Netanyahu, a war criminal, as declared by the international criminal court . . . . Trump is also a war criminal. . . . This is a huge attack against Cuba as well. . . . We say Hands off Venezuela, hands off Cuba, hands off Palestine!”
Ryan Novosielski highlighted the social domestic costs of diverting resources to fight wars abroad instead of meeting the needs of people on the streets of our own nation. He called upon us to work harder to bring a stronger presence in opposition to this war build up. Excerpt;
“This is not a war that we can afford. We’re talking about making cuts so that we can balance the budget. The cuts are coming out of health insurance subsidies. They’re coming out of research grants to universities. They’re threatening Medicare and Medicaid. These are all things that we could use money for in our communities. Education.
They keep talking about scarcity, but they have an unlimited amount of money to go bomb innocent people overseas, to steal from other countries, and to sow hatred around the world. If you drop bombs on somebody, you don’t make very good friends. . . . This is something that’s got to stop!”
This editor of FightBackBetter Bob Witanek suggests the killings of the boat crews in the Carribbean and Pacific are in part “demonstration killings” to show the US and world population that Trump intends to do some killing and we are in his target sights. This editor also highlighted that the boat attack operation, the ICE crackdown and the National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 thought control repression are all linked to Trump’s use of AI and predictive processing to drive repressive and murderous measures, warning of threats to us here who oppose Trump policy. He suggested reviving NJ Hands Off Venezuela Committee and organizing of another event around Venezuela in coming weeks and including if and when the US further escalates. Excerpt:
“The killings of the fishermen and the boaters in addition to being harassment and stepping up to a war with Venezuela, there’s another purpose of those killings: demonstration killings. This government, this Trump administration is showing us that they can kill with impunity. . . . . Let me tell you how this process works of putting these boats on a kill list because it’s very similar to the process of rounding up immigrants and immigrant supporters and very similar to the process being flagged by National Security Presidential Memorandum 7. They got all this surveillance off the coast of Colombia and Venezuela and if a boat fits a certain profile in a certain area and is behaving in a certain way that data that is sent up, analyzed by the Palantir like written software (which) runs it through AI and creates a probability that that boat might be a drug boat. No evidence whatsoever, no proof that their probability methods were ever even valid to begin with. They made it up! . . . So if that boat ends up on the list, it goes and the Pentagon decides whether to shoot it down. Exactly like what’s happening with the immigrants. . . . He is saying he will use the same kind of military force, they have said that at the Antifa “Roundtable” . . . the same force against Venezuela boats will be used against “domestic terrorists” and ANTIFA.
I would suggest that we re- form Hands Off Venezuela, New Jersey, what we had going in the last time Trump tried to do this. I would suggest that we talk it over with each other and we come back with maybe in a week and we possibly do this kind of Venezuela protest with more organizing maybe on a warmer day . . . especially if there’s another escalation.”
Adam Marshall a veteran of the United States Army from 2010 to 2018 suggested that the most powerful words current GIs can state when they are called upon to carry out illegal orders is Sir No Sir. He warned of the consequences of refusing illegal orders and advised GIs who have questions about what to do to contact the GI rights Hot Line: 1-877-447-4487. Excerpt:
“I want to talk about the three most powerful words that can come out of a service member’s mouth that can end this stuff. Sir, no sir. . . . If you havea a family member or you yourself are a current service member or veteran, know about the GI rights hotline. There’s no doubt that if you step up and disobey an illegal order, there will be consequences that come against you. But knowing what laws that are in place, what rights you have, and what accessy ou might have to attorneys and othe rresources can help you to make that tough decision to disobey illegal orders.”
NEXT STEPS IN NJ’S FIGHT TO OPPOSE USE WAR ON LATIN AMERICA
The plan of the Venezuela war opponents is to continue to organize. Within the next 2 – 3 weeks if the tensions have not decreased there will be another event at the same location – details will be announced. Also if there is another major escalation toward full scale war with Venezuela and other Latin American countries, opponents of intervention are invited to return to this same location, the Peter Rodino Federal Building, 972 Broad Street, Newark NJ at 11 am on the next day (or day following – details will be confirmed at that time) for a protest event.
Those interested in joining the event and participating in the NJ Hands Off Venezluela effort are encouraged to use the form below to get in contact,
Opposition to US war on Venezuela will also be addressed at the January 19th Newark March of Resistance in commemoration of the life and struggles of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For details contact 973-801-0001.
Other NJ Venezuela Protest news:
Interested in working to oppose US war on Venezuela and partiicpation in emergency response events? Please use this form to connect;
