By Joe Montero
This article was written in Venezuela back in late January and not posted earlier due to technical difficulties caused by the sanctions being imposed on the country by some Washington led countries, including Australia. It is part of a small series of articles reporting on the experiences of a three person delegation. This one deals with an important world meeting held in Caracas from 22 to 24 January.
Six of us have arrived Venezuela from Australia. We came to meet with and talk to the people, about what is going on in their country, the impact on their lives, and their aspirations for the future.
We also have the honour of being delegates to the World Meeting against Imperialism – ‘for life, sovereignty and peace.”
Hundreds of international; delegates from 51 countries joined with more than 1,000 Venezuelan delegates to discuss matters relating to environmentally sustainable development, decolonialising culture, replacing neoliberalism with social inclusion and building communities, international anti-imperialism, socialism of the twenty first century as an alternative to capitalism, ethics and humanism, the battle for ideas, and the decline of American hegemony and the rise of unipolar world and more.
Diosdado Cabello ofrece un minuto de aplausos en honor al General Soleimani, junto a delegadas y delegados internacionales de 51 países, desde el Encuentro Mundial contra el Imperialismo "Por la vida, la soberanía y la Paz".
Caracas, #Venezuela.#22Ene #EnDefensaDeLaPaz pic.twitter.com/Qix0d5N06b
— ✽ Orlenys Ortiz 🍁🍃 (@OrlenysOV) January 22, 2020
Hundreds of other foreign delegates were prevented from reaching Venezuela by actions of the US and other governments.
We have taken part in the first day of the three day program. A more detailed report on this will follow,
Three of us will be spending more time in Venezuela, visiting communities and talking to ordinary people. We want to hear their views.
This is a nation is heading for some new momentous events. Pretend president and US backed Juan Guaido, recently gave provided a taste of what can be expected.
When the nation’s parliament recon reconvened less than two weeks ago, everyone knew that he would not have the numbers to be re-elected as the house’s president. The problem is that many of his supporters among the members have deserted him. Their main motivation is that by inviting foreign intervention, he has threatened the nation’s sovereignty.
Support went to a former oppositionist, backed by the pro-government members.
Rather than face an election defeat in an election, Guaido and his few remaining loyalists, staged a demonstration outside, which tried to crash though and occupy the parliament to prevent a vote. The police put a stop to this.
This also created a photo opportunity to sell to the global media the false story that the parliament has been hijacked and he wasn’t allowed in. The truth is that he had refused to enter, unless his supporters were allowed in to.
A general election will be held this year. Judging by what is going on so far, in ia highly likely that Guaido and his foreign supporters will try and do what they can to disrupt it.
This reveals the mindset that there is no interest in the exercise of voting, and an inclination to impose their will through force.
Failing his bid, Guaido retired to somewhere else with his people and declared himself the real president of the house.
Why are we here? Our role as foreigners in their country is not to try and tell the Venezuelans what to do. It is their right to choose their own path. Our role is to support this right, to witness what is going on and to tell the story to the outside world.
We will be reporting on what we see, hear and do.