Mass rally in support of the constituent assembly, Caracas, Venezuela, July 27, 2017.
On Sunday, July 30, the people of Venezuela will elect a National Constituent Assembly. Nearly 20 million Venezuelans will choose from 6,120 candidates representing diverse sectors of society and areas of the country to represent them. Their aim is to consolidate the Bolivarian political process so as to resolve the country’s problems peacefully and end the foreign-inspired violence and interference in the country’s internal affairs.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at July 27, 2017 rally in Caracas.
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) reiterates its support for the people of Venezuela and their government to solve problems through dialogue and the right of Venezuela to establish a Constituent Assembly as a principle of self-determination. CPC(M-L) calls on Canadians and their organizations to show their support for the people of Venezuela at this time and oppose the escalation of external aggression against Venezuela which is becoming ever more brutal. CPC(M-L) specifically condemns the unprincipled stand of the government of Canada which, in the name of high ideals of democracy, is spreading disinformation about what is going on in Venezuela and meddling to destabilize and overthrow the government.
The role Canada is playing to interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela promotes foreign intervention and joins the litany of threats from the United States and several European countries, including Spain and Italy.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland issued two statements, one on July 16 and another on July 26. All evidence to the contrary, she praises as highly successful the July 16 “national unofficial vote on the government’s plan to rewrite the constitution and the political future of their country” — a so-called plebiscite against the Constituent Assembly held by the opposition. This she claims is constitutional, but the election of a Constituent Assembly is not.
In the statement issued on July 26, Freeland claims that “the process to create the Constituent Assembly is contrary to Venezuela’s constitution and seeks to usurp the democratic rights of its citizens.” This is simply not true.
“The plan for the Constituent Assembly is neither in keeping with democratic principles nor representative of the Venezuelan people,” Freeland says. “We call on the Venezuelan government to cancel the national Constituent Assembly and to take concrete actions, with the opposition, to restore democratic order,” she says. This position is a reiteration of what the U.S. administration is saying. Besides threats issued by the CIA (see below), on July 17, U.S. President Donald Trump once again threatened “strong and swift economic actions” if the elections for the Constituent Assembly go ahead.
Toronto picket in support of the Venezuelan people, July 25, 2017.
Canada is also instrumental in efforts within the Organization of American States (OAS) to condemn Venezuela and authorize external intervention, which have repeatedly failed. Meanwhile, the majority of governments of Latin America and the Caribbean reject the moves of the OAS and support Venezuela’s right to self-determination. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) issued a statement rejecting Donald Trump’s July 17 interventionist threats. The statement condemns the threats of more sanctions as coercive and unilateral which violate international law and the sovereignty and independence of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
According to the ALBA members, the announcement of imposing economic sanctions against the Venezuelan people constitutes an unacceptable interventionist implementation of U.S. laws, which in no way contributes to the solution of the situation in the South American country and also impedes its development.
The ALBA countries also reject the interference of those countries that not only ignore the Venezuelan legal system and the constitutional and legitimate government of the president, Nicolás Maduro, but also put at risk the status of Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace reached at the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2014. This weekend, leading up to the election of the Constituent Assembly, actions are being held in cities across the country to express the support of Canadians for the Venezuelan people and government. This includes a twitter campaign on Friday, July 28, under the hashtags #VenezuelaCorazonDeAmerica and #VamosConLaConstituyente.
All Out to Support the Venezuelan People, Their President Nicolás Maduro and the Election of the Constituent Assembly!
Hands Off Venezuela!
Source: TML Daily, July 28, 2017
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