Letter from the World’s Social Movements to the President of the

United States of America Barack Hussein Obama

Dear Mr. President,

We, representatives from the social movements worldwide, have seen

with bewilderment and indignation how on the 9th of March 2015 you

decreed a national emergency in your country in order to confront

Venezuela by labeling it as “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the

national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

Such executive order is an act of aggression which violates

international law, and it is the most severe attempt to change the

democratic will of the Venezuelan people.

In addition, we believe that your executive order endangers peace

throughout the continent, since it clearly implies that your Government

is determined to roll back the social advances that have been achieved

during the last decade in Latin America.

Mr. President, you are isolating your own country by turning it

into a true rouge state

You are treating Venezuela as an enemy, a country that over the last

two centuries has cultivated a tradition of international peace.

You are acting as a world bully who wishes to forcibly impose his might

over the rule of law and over people’s sovereignty.

The military and economic power of the United States shall never be

enough to tread on the rights of the rest of humanity.

Mr. President, you want to change the Government of Venezuela

in order to upset the continent’s progress in social policies

The Government of the United States wants “to twist arms” to

Venezuelan men and women because they decided, peacefully and

democratically, to correct the social inequalities accumulated over

centuries of racism against indigenous and Afro-Latin Americans, of

violence against women, oppression against rural and urban workers,

discrimination against sexual minorities, exclusion of the minorities with

special needs and environmental destruction.

Over the past 15 years, millions of men and women in Venezuela, as

well as in Latin America and the Caribbean, have seen their quality of

life improve thanks to the ongoing fight against poverty, illiteracy, lack

of medical attention, and the recognition of their cultural, environmental

and sexual rights.

This is due to a great historical change that has turned social

movements into fundamental political actors, eroding the power of

traditional elites.

Mr. President, you use the power of your country to privilege the

powerful one percent which for centuries has oppressed the ninetynine

percent of the peoples in Latin America.

By trying to turn back the clock of Latin American history, your

Government plots against democracy, popular majorities and the peace

with justice that millions of us, Latin Americans, have built with so much

sacrifice.

Venezuela is not alone

In this struggle for peace and justice, the people of Venezuela have the

right to freely decide their future. They even have the right to make

their own mistakes.

We join Venezuela in its liberation effort. The struggle of Venezuela’s

majorities is our struggle. Their victories and defeats are ours.

Venezuela may well be unusual and extraordinary, but you Mr.

President are the threat

Mr. President, you seem to be convinced that Venezuela’s defeat

would create a “domino effect” all over the continent, halting the wave

of social change that runs throughout the region. This error is born of

your lack of understanding of Latin American social movements, which

is also the case among the elites in your country. Your unjustified

aggression is doomed to failure.

While Venezuela offers peace, solidarity and friendship to the people of

the world, your Government only offers a return to the past through the

illegal use of force, military bases, threats and intimidation.

For us the choice is clear: Venezuela may be unusual and

extraordinary; however, you Mr. President and the US Government

pose a real threat to democracy, peace and justice in Latin America.

We call upon reflection, so that arrogance may cease. We call upon

respect for the human rights of people all over the world. Finally, we

also call upon the most active organization and mobilization of the

world’s ninety-nine percent to defend our social achievements and to

advance our aspirations for peace and justice.

Therefore, Mr. President Obama, we demand that you repeal your

executive order now!