Snap protest demands Labor pressure US to stop its war on Cuba, Venezuela

The Australia-Cuba Friendship Society (ACFS) and the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) called a snap rally on October 3 to demand the United States stop threatening and blockading Cuba, Venezuela and Latin America.

It was part of an international day, called by the US United National Anti-War Coalition, to defend the sovereignty of Latin America, particularly Cuba and Venezuela.

US peace organisation CODEPINK said on September 30 that it had information that the US Army Reserve was preparing to invade Cuba, in three to four months’ time. The US Southern Command is allegedly massing military police, engineers, medical units, battlefield surgical capacity and major logistics forces.

The rally demanded that the federal Labor federal government call on the US government to stop its invasion plans of Cuba and lift the 60-year blockade, and end the 10-year blockade on Venezuela.

It also called for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores’s release from the notorious US Federal Prison in Brooklyn, where they have imprisoned for eight months on trumped-up charges of drug trafficking.

Coral Wynter, from AVSN and Socialist Alliance (SA), told the rally: “All of Latin America is now under threat from a resurgence of the 19th century Monroe doctrine, with fascist-leaning, US-dominated puppet governments agreeing to US military bases and foreign interference.

“The US commits silent genocides on the people of Latin America with its illegal sanctions. We cannot let this happen. We cannot remain silent in the face of imperialist aggression. History is written by people who rise up and fight for justice,” Wynter said.

Other speakers included Patrick Newbold from ACFS and Red Spark, and myself from AVSN and SA.