Task Force on the Americas – Solidarity Statement

Condemns Assassination Attempt on Venezuelan President 

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro survived an apparent assassination attempt by lethal drone on August 4, 2018. Hostile international media initially portrayed the event as a hoax perpetrated by the Maduro government as an excuse to suppress dissent.

Later video footage of an exploding drone proved the attack was not fabricated. Still the subsequent arrest of six suspects in their attempt to kill Maduro is being spun in the corporate media as a “crackdown.”

The Maduro government has implicated the government of Colombian President Santos in the drone attack along with the US. The Colombian government, which recently joined NATO, is hostile to Venezuela and closely allied with the US-backed regime change efforts aimed at removing the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela. Colombian President Santos recently predicted that Venezuelan President Maduro’s fall is imminent.

Hours before the attack, Álvaro Uribe, former president of Colombia and in-coming President Duque’s protégé, publicly called on the US to take out the Maduro government. Shortly after the attack, Uribe tweeted “Venezuelan soldiers need to remove Maduro and his regime.” Both President Santos of Colombia and US National Security Advisor John Bolton deny involvement in this act of terrorism.

The Task Force on the Americas has no way of independently assessing these accusations. However, we note that both the Colombian and US governments are actively engaged in efforts to overthrow the democratically elected government of Venezuela by extra-parliamentary means. Though constrained by Executive Order 12333, no standing US law criminalizes the assassination of a foreign official. Incredulously, Venezuela has been declared an “extraordinary national security threat” to the US by President Obama and reaffirmed by President Trump.

As a humanitarian organization, the Task Force on the Americas, condemns the use of lethal drones. As an anti-imperialist humanitarian organization, we: *

• Condemn illegal, violent and unconstitutional attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nicolás Maduro.
• Demand full respect for international law and respect for Venezuela’s right to self-determination and sovereignty.
• Reject any form of interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs.
• Support dialogue between the Venezuelan government and the opposition.
• Demand that the US lift sanctions and restore full diplomatic relations with Venezuela based on mutual respect.

(* Based on the solidarity statement of the Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle, https://www.facebook.com/albertolovera.bolivariancircle/.)