by Jeanne Trubek
On Saturday, Nov. 22, over 75 protesters rallied at Park Street Station in downtown Boston, to declare that we do not want the United States to attack Venezuela, bringing us into yet another endless and futile war. This rally and march were sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action, Veterans for Peace, About Face, Workers World Party, and The Committee for Human Rights. We heard speakers from these and other organizations who described the aggressive policies of the current government, the incredible waste of billions of dollars spent on the military that could be used for critical needs here at home, the global anger at United States’ interference in the autonomy of other countries, the inhumanity of murdering fishermen out to sea trying to feed their own families, and the grave violations of international law being carried out in our name.
Speakers included Jeff Parente from About Face: Veterans against War, author and journalist, Stephen Kinzer, Ed Childs from Unite Here Local 25, Chris Nye from the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the War Resistors League, and Ed Hasbrook from the Military Law Task Force the National Lawyers Guild. Music was provided by folk singer Ben Grosscup and the Peoples Music Network.
Stephen Kinzer declared that an intervention in Venezuela would be similar to our intervention in Iraq and would result in a long war with many needless deaths and then failure. Marco Rubio wants to destroy Cuba, he said, and destroying Venezuela is part of that plan. By controlling Venezuela’s oil, the United States could cut off Cuba’s access to oil. Venezuelan youth, as well as the youth of the rest of South and Central America admire El Libertador Simon Bolivar, the man who led the liberation of many South American countries from the Spanish Empire. Kinzer believes that they will not allow their countries to be occupied or taken over by the imperialists to the north.
Ed Childs declared that this is Wall Street’s war. “This war is not one sought by the American people,” he said, “We would like the resources of this country to be spent on things like food for all, medical care for all, housing for all, not for Wall Street to amass even more wealth.”
Chris Nye spoke of the thousands of interventions that the United States has initiated, including dozens in Latin America. His prediction was that if the United States seeks control of South American countries, this will boomerang. Brian Garvey reminded us that what we spend on the military shows up here in cuts to humanitarian aid and cuts in medical research and education. Ed Hasbrook reminded us that bombing fishing boats —or any boats — in international waters is illegal. The United States cannot rewrite international law. These are war crimes.
Ben led the crowd in singing many songs, including one he composed for the event called: “The Money they Stole.” The lyrics referred to the wealth contained in Venezuelan oil, the primary motivation for this war.
The event concluded with the crowd marching through downtown Boston’s shopping district, holding signs and chanting.