Los Angeles, February 8th 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Thirty-four US legislators submitted a statement to President Donald Trump advocating for greater sanctions against the Venezuelan government, reports the Associated Press. The letter was co-written by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) former chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Senator Menendez (D-New Jersey) sitting member of the Senate foreign relations subcommittee on Latin America.

“Decisive, principled action in response to unfolding developments in Venezuela as one of the first foreign policy actions of your administration would send a powerful message to the Maduro regime and the Venezuelan people,” stated the letter signed by an equal number of Republicans as well as Democrats.

The letter specifically calls on Trump to sanction Venezuelan government and military officials allegedly tied to corruption and human rights abuses citing an AP investigation focusing on corruption released in December 2016 as its key source.

Additionally,  US legislators advocated for increased U. funding for “democratic political processes, institutions and values that support human rights, freedom of information and independent civil society until the country returns to democratic governance.” Currently, US funding to Venezuela under the Economic Support Fund stands at $USD 6.5 million annually states the letter.

The call for greater “pro-democracy” aid is the result of an international campaign promoting intervention in Venezuela on the basis of unfounded human rights violations. The US lawmakers cite the case of “political prisoners” naming Leopoldo López, currently imprisoned and sentenced to 13 years for his role in the 2014 guarimba protest violence resulting in the deaths of 43 people and hundreds more severely injured.

The bipartisan call for intervention also urges an investigation into alleged drug trafficking and Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami for his purported ties to Middle Eastern “terrorist groups” citing reports from the Wall Street Journal and American Interest

“Given these reports, the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country, and his prominence in the regime, we urge the appropriate agencies to thoroughly investigate Tareck El Aissami’s conduct and activities,” the letter pressed.

Venezuelanalysis responded earlier this month to this international defamation campaign against El Assami calling the attacks racist in nature and unfounded.

Lastly, letter demands that the Treasury Department issue regulations to guarantee US companies do not benefit from the overpayment of food contracts in Venezuela as outlined by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977.

US lawmakers who also signed onto the letter including: Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Norma Torres (D-CA), Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Ted Yoho (R-FL), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Dan Donovan (R-NY), Mia Love (R-UT), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Brian Mast (R-FL), David Cicilline (D-RI), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Mark Meadows (R-NC), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Darren Soto (D-FL), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA).

This letter’s release comes after Venezuelan National Assembly vice president Freddy Guevara of the opposition along with lawmakers Armando Armas and José Gregorio Correa began a three day tour this week in the US to request a meeting with President Trump to request sanctions against Venezuela.

President Nicolás Maduro has denounced this behavior a “crime” and “treason”.

“These lawmakers are committing great crimes of treason, when they go to Washington to ask the new US government to intervene in Venezuela,” said Maduro during his weekly radio program Tuesday night.

Since his campaign trail, Trump has not publicly announced detailed US foreign policy plans in Venezuela. However, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s confirmed  his support for “regime change” in January.

Likewise, the OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro’s threatened to resume efforts to intervene in Venezuela if the dialogue with the opposition does not move forward.

The two main co-sponsors of the letter, Ros-Lehtinen and Menendez have consistently advocated for US intervention namely in Cuba but across Latin America and the Caribbean on behalf of the right wing Cuban exile community.

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http://www.soaw.org/

SOA Watch strongly condemns the actions taken by President Donald Trump, which violates the integrity and lives of hundreds of thousands of people inside and outside the U.S. Faced with fear and hatred, we reiterate our commitment to stand in solidarity with all who fight for their right to live a just and peaceful life.

We are in solidarity with Standing Rock and strongly oppose the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. We call for support of indigenous peoples in the Americas, who have historically been the first line of defense of the land and to whom political expediency and capitalist interests have challenged their right to life. From Oceti Sakowin to Ushuahia, we demand respect for the dignity and self-determination of indigenous peoples.

We continue to stand in solidarity with migrant communities, all those who are beneficiaries of DACA, and all refugees regardless of immigration status or place of origin. U.S. immigration and border control policies attempt to disguise the root causes of migration: the ruthless economic, political, and military intervention of in Latin America that forces hundreds of thousands of people to escape the violence of war and poverty. We continue our commitment to the border communities and all who face physical and virtual walls that violate their human dignity and quality of life. We strongly denounce the threats of Donald Trump against the people of Mexico!

We are in solidarity with Muslim communities and oppose any kind of regulation that prohibits the entry of people into the U.S. based on hatred, racism and xenophobia. The disastrous ban ignores the constant wars that have forced the departure of hundreds of thousands of refugees caused by U.S. policymakers, regardless of their political party.

We are in solidarity with LGBTQ communities, migrant and refugee communities, Muslim communities, African American communities, indigenous peoples, and all people who have faced violence due to their skin color, birthplace, defense of land and natural resources, or religion. We will continue to fight against training at SOA/WHINSEC and against U.S. military bases in Latin America. We will continue to join the global community in the struggle for a peace and just world.

Not one step back,

SOA Watch,  http://www.soaw.org/

Hosted by Voces de la Frontera

ENGLISH BELOW

¡ALERTA! Miembros de Voces acaban de votar a favor para movilizar un Día sin Latinos, Inmigrantes y Refugiados para el lunes, 13 de febrero, con motivo de prevenir al Sheriff Clarke de convertir sus diputados en agentes de ICE por el programa 287g.

Marcha a las 11am ese día de 1027 S 5th St en Milwaukee.

Pedimos la participación de todo el estado. Si pasa en Milwaukee, puede pasar en todos lados.

Visita este página para volantes, cartas para patrones y otras herramientas para organizar: http://vdlf.org/herramientas-para-organizar-el-13-de-febrero-organizing-toolkit-for-february-13th/.
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BREAKING! Voces members just voted to organize a Day Without Latinxs, Immigrants and Refugees for Monday, February 13th, to stop Sheriff Clarke from having his deputies act as ICE agents through the 287g program!

March at 11am that day from 1027 S 5th St in Milwaukee.

We ask for statewide participation. If Clarke can do this in Milwaukee, it can happen everywhere.

Visit this page for flyers, letters for employers, and other tools for organizing: http://vdlf.org/herramientas-para-organizar-el-13-de-febrero-organizing-toolkit-for-february-13th/

We Say No! to Stolen Elections in Haiti

February 6, 2017 – For well over a month, tens of thousands of Haitians have been demonstrating daily to protest yet another stolen election and another denial of their right to determine their own destinies.

Despite this popular outcry and numerous reports of large-scale fraud and voter suppression the Electoral Council in Haiti, backed by the U.S. State Department, the Organization of American States, and the United Nations occupying forces (MINUSTAH), has just officially anointed Jovenel Moise as the next president of Haiti.

Moise is a protégé of right-wing former President Michel Martelly, whose regime was marked by corruption, wholesale repression of political opposition, and the selling of Haiti’s land and resources to foreign corporations.

As Haitians demonstrate courageously to resist the imposition of an undemocratically selected regime, they have been met with repression from Haitian police and UN soldiers. In one incident, police attacked the community of La Saline, a stronghold of Fanmi Lavalas, for decades the party of the poor majority in Haiti. The police fired round upon round of tear gas and killed three infants. In another instance, police attacked a non-violent march using water hoses, tear gas, and a skin irritant that caused severe burns.

On Dec. 24, police attacked a peaceful Christmas Eve demonstration on Martin Luther King Avenue in Port-au-Prince – beating and shooting journalists and people protesting the stolen election. Police shot up and smashed windows of cars belonging to Fanmi Lavalas parliamentarian Printemps Belizaire and Fanmi Lavalas senatorial candidate Dr. Louis Gerald Gilles. Journalist Thomas Jean Dufait, from Radio-Tele Timoun (a grassroots media outlet) sustained bullet wounds. In recent days, police have used massive force to block demonstrators from even marching.

These tactics are all reminiscent of those used by police forces in the Jim Crow South or in South Africa, who were equally determined to prevent Black people from exercising their right to vote.

We in the San Francisco Lawyers Guild condemn these attacks on Haitians’ right to assemble and their right to speak out and protest. We denounce the blatant subversion of the electoral process in Haiti. We call on the U.S. government, the UN and the OAS to end their support for dictatorial rule in Haiti. And we stand in solidarity with the grassroots movement in Haiti as they continue their steadfast fight for democratic governance and true self-determination. – Statement of National Lawyers Guild (S.F.) issued Feb. 6, 2017

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Dear Friends of Haiti – The National Lawyers Guild has answered a call from Haiti’s popular movement for people to people solidarity from everywhere on the planet as they confront an illegal regime. Today is the 57th day of protests in Haiti since the November 20th stolen elections. The Feb. 7th inauguration of the fraudulently elected president Jovenel Moise is enforced by a campaign of intimidation and terror against popular resistance.

Today’s Haitian police attacks on peaceful protesters in Tokyo-La Saline, a stronghold of Fanmi Lavalas, can be seen in this video. Please watch it. Three babies died in the last police attack on this neighborhood. The time for solidarity is now. – Haiti Action Committee

www.haitisolidarity.net        @HaitiAction1     @HaitiActionCommittee on FB

http://standwithstandingrock.net/march/

SIGN to DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST DC JAN 20 TRUMP RESISTERS

The media spent last year rightly calling Donald Trump a racist, sexist xenophobe and bully. The Atlantic called him Mussolini, Politico called him Pinochet, and NY Magazine called him Adolf Hitler. We could see for ourselves in his wild statements during the campaign that the man was a monster. Why wouldn’t people resist?

Tens of thousands responded and came to D.C. They faced thousands of militarized police, roadblocks, checkpoints and Trump’s fascist supporters.

Five blocks from the White House and close to permitted rally sites militarized police units swept in on a diverse crowd at an intersection. They were barricaded for 8 hours and gassed with chemical agents. The police leveled the fraudulent and highly political charge of ‘Felony Riot’ on all 216 people. But NO riot took place! Those arrested now face 10 years in prison, $25,000 in fines and felony records. The police have no proof of guilt. Instead they gave everyone the exact same felony charge. In their frantic search to find guilt police confiscated and have kept all cell phones and electronic equipment. Those swept up include journalists, legal observers, medics, everyday people walking down the street and activists willing to get in the streets to resist oppression.

These serious charges are meant to chill the growing movement against Trump’s egregious acts. Hundreds of thousands are pouring into the streets across the country to protest the ban on Muslims, the restart of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL),racist police killings  the attack on the Affordable Care Act, and other acts that put us all at risk.

It is essential for the movement as a whole to come to the defense of all the militant resisters of the Black Lives Matter Movement, the DAPL Pipeline Water Protectors and the Immigrant Rights activists and all other resisters.

Hundreds of millions of Americans are disgusted with the prospect of Klu Klux Klan sympathizer Jeff Sessions running the Justice Department. The DOJ will be prosecuting those arrested. Jeff Sessions, who once wanted to sentence marijuana dealers to death, will be the man ultimately responsible for prosecuting 200 people with10 years in jail for a trash can fire and some minimal property damage blocks away.

We must say NO! A collective defense of all those who oppose Trump’s agenda is necessary. But first, we must join in one unified voice to demand the Department of Justice immediately drop ALL charges against the January 20th Trump resistors.

SIGN the petition HERE