Statements
Open Letter to the People
of the United States
- Venezuelan President
Nicolás
Maduro -
Rally in Caracas, January 23, 2019, in defence of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela and its democratically elected President
Nicolás Maduro.
If I know anything, it is about people, because
like
yourselves, I am a man of the people. I was born and raised in a
poor
neighbourhood of Caracas. I was forged in the heat of popular and
union
struggles in a Venezuela submerged in exclusion and inequality. I
am
not a tycoon, I am a worker in thought and heart. Today I have
the
great privilege of presiding over the new Venezuela, rooted in a
model
of inclusive development and social equality, envisioned by
Commander
Hugo Chávez since 1998, inspired by the Bolivarian
legacy.
We are living in a historic moment. In the coming
days
the future of our countries will be defined, as one of war or
peace.
Your national representatives in Washington want to bring to your
borders the same hatred they sowed in Vietnam. They want to
invade and
intervene in Venezuela -- they say, as they said then -- in the
name of
democracy and freedom. But it's not like that. The story of the
usurpation of power in Venezuela is as false as the weapons of
mass
destruction in Iraq. It is a false case, but it can have dramatic
consequences for our entire region.
Venezuela is a country that, by virtue of its
1999
Constitution, has broadly expanded the participatory and
protagonistic democracy of the people and, something
unprecedented, is today one of the countries that has held the
largest number of elections in the last 20 years. You might not
like our ideology or the way we look, but we exist and we are
millions.
I address these words to the people of the United
States of America to warn of the gravity and danger of some
sectors in
the White House considering an invasion of Venezuela, with
unpredictable consequences for my country and for the entire
American
region. President Donald Trump also intends to disrupt the noble
dialogue initiatives promoted by Uruguay and Mexico, with the
support
of CARICOM, for a peaceful solution and dialogue in favour of
Venezuela. We know that for the good of Venezuela we have to sit
down
and talk because to refuse to dialogue is to choose the path of
force.
Keep in mind the words of John F. Kennedy: "Let us never
negotiate out
of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." Are those who do
not want
to dialogue afraid of the truth?
The political intolerance towards the Venezuelan
Bolivarian model and the appetite for our immense oil resources,
minerals, and other great riches, has prompted an international
coalition, headed by the U.S. government, to commit the serious
insanity of militarily attacking Venezuela under the false
pretext of a
non-existent humanitarian crisis.
The people of Venezuela have suffered painful
social
wounds caused by a criminal commercial and financial blockade,
which
has been aggravated by the seizure and theft of our financial
resources
and assets in countries aligned with this demented onslaught.
And yet, thanks to a new system of social
protection,
of
direct attention to the most vulnerable sectors, we proudly
continue to be a country with a high human development index and
one of the lowest inequality indices in the Americas.
The U.S. people must know that this complex
multifaceted
aggression is carried out with total impunity and in clear
violation of the Charter of the United Nations, which expressly
outlaws the threat or use of force, among its other principles
and aims, for the sake of peace and friendly relations between
Nations.
We want to continue being business partners of
the
people of
the United States, as we have been throughout our history. Your
politicians in Washington, on the other hand, are willing to send
your sons and daughters to die in an absurd war, instead of
respecting the sacred right of the Venezuelan people to
self-determination and to safeguard their sovereignty.
Like you, people of the United States, we
Venezuelans
are patriots. And we shall defend our homeland with every piece
of our
soul. Today Venezuela is united in a single clamour: we demand a
stop
to the aggression that seeks to suffocate our economy and
socially
suffocate our people, as well as the grave and dangerous threats
of
military intervention against Venezuela. We appeal to the good
soul of
U.S. society, a victim of its own leaders, to join our call for
peace;
let us be all one people against warmongering and war.
Long Live the Peoples of
America!
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 5 - February 16, 2019
Article Link:
Statements: Open Letter to the People
of the United States - Venezuelan President
Nicolás
Maduro
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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