On August 17, popular movements, left-wing parties and trade unions in dozens of cities around the world participated in an international day of action in solidarity with Venezuela, which is facing right-wing coup attempts and attacks on the electoral process following the victory of incumbent President Nicolás Maduro. The day of action is part of a solidarity campaign “Defend democracy and sovereignty! Hands off Venezuela!”, launched on August 9 by the International People’s Assembly, ALBA Movimientos, the Simón Bolívar Institute and the Assembly of Peoples of the Caribbean.
🇻🇪 The Amilcar Cabral Political-Ideological Training School of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) held an online videoconference on August 10 with Guinean students from different parts of the world who expressed their solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution of … pic.twitter.com/NMvUDp3mQu
— International People’s Assembly (@peoplesassembl_) 17 August 2024
In Guinea-Bissau, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) held a conference on August 10, during which Guinean students expressed their solidarity with Venezuela.
In Seoul, South Korea, activists mobilize on the International Day of Action “Defend Democracy and Sovereignty” –#HandsOffVenezuelaThey demand international respect for the result of the July 28 presidential elections and reject US intervention in Venezuela.
— International People’s Assembly (@peoplesassembl_) 17 August 2024
In several countries, popular movements visited Venezuelan embassies 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 attacked by far-right opposition activists, in some cases supported by local governments, to take control of the facilities, as in Washington DC, in total 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 in their respective Venezuelan embassies.
In Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, the League of Young Peasants of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Ljp-RDC) held up signs with the slogan “Hands off Venezuela!” In Seoul, South Korea, activists held up a banner reading “No world war provocations! Down with US imperialism!” In Rome, Italy, activists held up a banner with slogans in support of Maduro and “the Chavista masses.”
On this International Day of Action, the Malian people mobilize their solidarity with Venezuela in defense of popular democracy and sovereignty and in rejection of fascism and US intervention in Venezuela. #HandsOffVenezuela
📷@EmbaVEMali pic.twitter.com/rRK2wmngfQ— International People’s Assembly (@peoplesassembl_) 17 August 2024
Activists also held solidarity actions across the United States, which had openly called for regime change following Maduro’s victory, in line with its role in orchestrating undemocratic coups in Latin America over the past century. On August 9, US activists were already mobilizing outside the New York Times building in New York City, where they accused the so-called Paper of Record of engineering consent for regime change in Venezuela. On August 17, activists in New York City organized a rally outside the headquarters of Fox News, and in Boston, members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) protested outside the Boston Globe headquarters in Boston. In San Francisco, PSL activists also protested outside the headquarters of social media giant X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, to condemn its role in fueling the hate and disinformation campaign on social media.
August 17 was also a day of mobilization in Venezuela. Both the right-wing opposition and Chavismo gathered in Caracas and other cities to demonstrate their popular support. However, the eagerly awaited “Great World Protest for the Truth” chaired by María Corina Machado failed to mobilize more than a few thousand people. Internationally, the international right-wing action day drew crowds in Madrid, Santiago, Miami and New York City.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands have taken over the center of Caracas in a mass march led by Nicolás Maduro and the various social and political movements and organizations of Chavismo.
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