AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Monday, March 04, 2019

No to US Intervention in Venezuela! Massachusetts Peace Action

Massachusetts Peace Action Cole Harrison<info@masspeaceaction.org>

1:34 PM

Dear Al,

The US is trying to overthrow the Maduro government with military threats, economic warfare and diplomatic isolation. But the solutions for the problems in Venezuela are for the Venezuelans to decide. The peace movement must oppose US intervention and support a resolution through peaceful dialogue!

The brinksmanship of U.S. officials is troubling, especially given that the president himself has long relished the possibility of war with Venezuela. FBI Director Andrew McCabe told the world that Donald Trump had said this about Venezuela:

“That’s the country we should be going to war with. They have all that oil and they’re right on our back door.”[2]

Please write your member of Congress today and ask them to sponsor the “Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act.”

Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) has introduced a bill in the House, and Sen. Jeff Merkley in the Senate, to stop a rush to war by blocking funds for such an intervention and prohibiting the administration from taking military action without Congressional approval. The U.S. has a long and bloody history of intervening in Latin America, a history we cannot allow to repeat itself in Venezuela. Reps. McGovern, Moulton, Pressley, and Keating have already signed on.

Learn more about the complicated situation in Venezuela at two terrific educational events Tuesday evening, one in Boston, the other in Northampton.

Venezuela: Sanctions, Elections and Attempted Coup

Tuesday, March 5, 7:00 pm

Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston St - Copley Square

Rev. Mike Clark will speak on “Venezuela vs. the Empire: A Coup 21 Years in the Making“. He is the Recovery Outreach Worker at the Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church. He is past executive director of Witness for Peace, bringing 4,000 US citizens to active war zones in Nicaragua. He has been arrested 14 times over the years in nonviolent direct actions aimed at US nuclear and foreign policy. From 2004 to 2014 he made seven visits to Venezuela, including two appearances as a guest on the late Hugo Chavez television program, “Alo Presidente.” During these trips, he was able to see firsthand the positive developments of the Chavez years and the manifold forms of US intervention designed to thwart these developments.

Daniel Kovalik currently teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He also served for over 25 years as Associate General Counsel of the United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO (USW). He began working for the USW after graduating from Columbia Law School in 1993. While with the USW, he served as lead counsel on cutting-edge labor law litigation, including the landmark NLRB cases of Lamons Gasket and Specialty Health Care. He has also worked on Alien Tort Claims Act cases against The Coca-Cola Company, Drummond and Occidental Petroleum – cases arising out of egregious human rights abuses in Colombia. The Christian Science Monitor, referring to his work defending Colombian unionists under threat of assassination, recently described Mr. Kovalik as “one of the most prominent defenders of Colombian workers in the United States.” Mr. Kovalik received the David W. Mills Mentoring Fellowship from Stanford University School of Law and was the recipient of the Project Censored Award for his article exposing the unprecedented killing of trade unionists in Colombia. He has written extensively on the issue of international human rights and U.S. foreign policy for the Huffington Post and Counterpunch and has lectured throughout the world on these subjects.

Sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action, Venezuela Solidarity Committee (Boston), and Community Church of Boston. Endorsed by United for Justice with Peace

The Crisis in Venezuela and the Role of the US

Tuesday, March 5, 7:00 pm

Northampton Friends Meeting, 43 Center St

Vijay Prashad

Executive Director of Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, just back from Caracas. Read his recent article from Venezuela, “We are the Invisible. We are the Invincible. We will Overcome“.