The statement below was released on February 17 by socialist groups in the Asia-Pacific region in response to a new coup attempt, including planned assassinations and bombings, by the US-backed right-wing opposition against Venezuela's socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.
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We, the undersigned organisations, strongly condemn the recent coup attempt that sought to overthrow the democratically elected government of Venezuela in order to reverse the achievements of the socialist Bolivarian process.
The failed coup was crafted around a plan that involved creating an economic assault on the country, creating an international debate around a supposed humanitarian crisis, a political coup involving officials who would turn on the government, and finally a military coup that would lead to the installation of the transitional program.
The coup plotters even planned to bomb Miraflores presidential palace and the Caracas offices of pan-Latin American TV station TeleSUR, as well as carry out assassinations of members of the opposition and government, including President Maduro, during the ensuing chaos once the coup unfolded.
The US, which has backed previous coup attempts including that against former president Hugo Chavez in 2002, has been implicated in the coup plot. Those involved were paid in US dollars and one of the coup plotters was granted a visa to the United States in case the coup plot failed.
Such a coup plot is not the first nor the last attempt to remove the democratically elected government of Venezuela and to defeat the Bolivarian revolutionary process, which poses a threat to the US imperialist interests in the region.
We hereby:
• Denounce all forms of undemocratic means that seek to overthrow the revolutionary Bolivarian government of Venezuela.
• Oppose all imperialist interventions in Venezuela.
• Reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Venezuela in defence of the Bolivarian revolutionary process and their great effort in building socialism in the 21st century.
Signed:
Socialist Party of Malaysia
Party of the Labouring Masses, Philippines
Socialist Alliance, Australia
Malaysia Support Group for Democracy in Thailand
Partai Rakyat Demokratik (PRD), Indonesia
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) – Liberation
Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network
Bolivarian Circle (Sydney, Australia)
Latin America Social Forum (Sydney, Australia)
Radical Socialist, India
Nepal Venezuela Solidarity Network
Philippine-Venezuela-Solidarity Network
BMP, Philippines
SENTRO, Philippines
World March of Women, Philippines
Transform Asia
Awami Workers Party, Pakistan
Chile Solidarity Coalition-Australia
Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET)
Venezuela Solidarity Campaign-Australia
[Please email int.psm@gmail.com if your organisation would like to sign this statement .]
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