Send a message now to your representative in Congress telling them to add their name to Rep. Cicilline’s legislation prohibiting the President from sending U.S. troops to Venezuela.

Send a message now to your representative in Congress telling them to add their name to Rep. Cicilline’s legislation prohibiting the President from sending U.S. troops to Venezuela.

H.R.1004 – “To prohibit the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities with respect to Venezuela, and for other purposes.” – has 33 cosponsors (all but one Democrats) and includes McGovern, Pressley, Keating and Moulton from Massachusetts

Senator Introduces Resolution [SJRes 11] to Prevent Military Intervention in Venezuela Without Explicit Congressional Authorization

Following repeated hints from the Trump Administration that it is considering a military intervention in Venezuela, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today introduced a Senate resolution that would prohibit military action in Venezuela without explicit congressional approval. Merkley is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and serves as the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Multilateral Institutions. “It’s critical that the Venezuelan people are the ones to determine their own future, and that the U.S. does not repeat a failed strategy of military intervention in Latin America,” said Merkley“   More

US sanctions are killing Venezuelans, says former UN rapporteur

Former special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas, who finished his term at the UN in March, has criticized the US for engaging in “economic warfare” against Venezuela which he said is hurting the economy and killing Venezuelans… Despite being the first UN official to visit and report from Venezuela in 21 years, Mr de Zayas said his research into the causes of the country’s economic crisis has so far largely been ignored by the UN and the media, and caused little debate within the Human Rights Council…  In his report, Mr de Zayas expressed concern that those calling the situation a “humanitarian crisis” are trying to justify regime change and that human rights are being “weaponised” to discredit the government and make violent overthrow more “palatable”.   More

NOTES FROM THE STREETS OF VENEZUELA:

The People Are Resilient in the Face of Foreign Intervention

Hyper-inflation is depressing. But, the poor in places like Kaikachi benefit from subsidized flour for the bakery and subsidized food for the kitchen. The distribution of food is not perfect, but it saves people from the worst impact of the collapse of the oil prices and the U.S. sanctions…  In front of Kaikachi is a middle-class apartment building. Sometimes Mariela says that people from that building throw trash and bottles into Kaikachi. “They want us to be evicted,” she says. If the Bolivarian government falls, Mariela points out, a government of the oligarchy will take the side of those residents. They will revoke any title that the 92 families have to the land. They will hand it over to a landlord, who will raise the rents and squeeze the poor. Right now, Mariela says, Venezuela faces an economic war from the United States and its allies. If the government in Caracas falls, she says, Kaikachi will face its own embargo from the government of the oligarchy, from the middle-class neighbors and—most of all—from the landlords. Their dreams of a better life will end.  More