MOLLY MONTGOMERY PHOTO
Reinaldo Goeyenechea/ La Voz Hispana
Two weeks after protesters declared outside City Hall that Juan Guaidó is the president of Venezuela, other local activists rallied at City Hall to declare him a puppet of U.S. imperialism.
About 20 people attended the protest Thursday evening, organized by Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). They chanted a message to the U.S. government: “Hands off Venezuela!” That message contrasted with the message of the previous rally, held by Venezuelan immigrants, calling on the U.S. to support regime change.
“We’re here to say no U.S. intervention in Venezuela, no U..S intervention in Latin America,” said Norman Clement (pictured above), a New Haven resident and member of the PSL. “Guaidó is just a puppet. How can someone who has never had one vote cast for him by the people of Venezuela be the president?”
After Guaidó, head of Venezuela’s national assembly, proclaimed himself president of Venezuela on Ja. 23, the U.S. recognized him as president. The Trump administration has since imposed sanctions on a state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, to pressure current socialist President Nicolás Maduro to cede power to Guaidó. Venezuela has seen mass arrests and clashes in the streets amid runaway hyperinflation and and a food and health crisis.
The activists claim that the U.S. – not Maduro – is responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
“The U.S. is sabotaging the economy of Venezuela, and that’s why there’s a shortage of food,” said ULA organizer John Lugo.
Clement claimmed that Maduro has the people’s support, and that the media has spread false information about mass support forGuaidó .
He said that the people supporting Guaidó are “basically rich Venezuelans, but if you go into barrios and talk to working class people, they’re behind Maduro 100 percent. You always have to look at the class nature of things.”
Clement compared U.S.’s actions in Venezuela to US-backed 20th century right-wing terrorism and coups in Nicaragua, Chile, and Guatemala.
“It’s part of their playbook – create a crisis, intervene, steal the resources, fuck up the government, fuck up the people, kill women and children,” he said. “When a U.S. imperialist talks about democracy, I see blood dripping out of their mouth and dollar signs surrounding their heads.”
Toward the end of the event, a single counter-protester from Nicaragua ran in front of the crowd, calling Maduro a murderer, holding a sign in his teeth that read, in Spanish, “Down with the Dictatorship of Maduro.”
Maduro said Thursday that his foreign minister held secret talks with the U.S. and that he is hoping to meet with President Trump.