Masses of support in Caracas and throughout Venezuela, which the U S media does not cover, against the unjust invasion of Venezuela, the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro by the Trump administration, and in support of its international rights as a sovereign nation.
To Jose de Paz – what most analyses on the Venezuelan invasion tend to leave out (including the left) – is the conditions created by the U S after Chavez took power with sanctions and trade blockades that deeply affected the economy of Venezuela. Over and over again, since 2001, the U S government, alongside oil companies, have done everything to stop the nationalization of oil in Venezuela- but to advance economic strangulation strategies to somehow bring back the US-owned oil companies to power. There is little mention about how nationalization by Chavez resulted in revenues that were used for social programs for health, education, and better quality of life. It was not just that oil prices dropped dramatically in 2014 affecting the economy internally of Venezuela – but it was also restrictions on Venezuela for access to international credit markets – the use of currency attacks, misinformation, diplomatic isolation, blockades, and economic sanctions (such as those in August 2017 and 2018) designed to halt any economic progress of a nation who was seeking economic independence. It has been part of an ongoing neoliberal strategy to control any nation in the global south that tries to develop its own currency, nationalize its industries to keep the wealth of its resources for the use of its internal needs, and that seeks to free itself from the historical domination of international corporations and capital interests. With shortages caused by these factors, the total blame is placed on internal failures- covering up the role that sanctions and other blockades have played – and are playing out now in holding back any kind of economic development that can break the chains of historical domination by these outside interests.
The kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, by U.S. special forces evokes the sad history of invasions, coups, and U.S. interventions in Latin America and around the world. Continue reading
Supporting the sending of a message this morning by a group of residents in San Dimas to hundreds of cars passing by that what the attacks are really all about in Venezuela is putting control of the oil there in the capital pockets of U S oil companies – pulling a coup with regime change – and an authoritarian Trump administration that does not care about violating international law and implementing an act of war against a sovereign nation without any congressional approval.
Another profound loss of an organizer and leader in our communities with the passing of brother Al Villanueva. As far back as when I started as a professor at Pitzer’s College in the 1990’s, I joined alongside Al (and so many others that included familia and supporters such as Angela and Jim Sanbrano) in his efforts to critically recover and preserve the history of the Arbol Verde barrio on the east side of Claremont. Continue reading
Gracias por acompañarnos en apoyo solidario con el compañero José Bautista, luchador, deportado a Honduras. Continue reading
A nice gift just arrived in the mail — the book, “The Oxford Handbook of Sociology for Social Justice, “ that includes one of my articles, “Participatory Research, Popular Education, and Action for Social Change.” Continue reading