Venezuela Calls for Regional Unity at VIII Assembly of Caribbean Peoples

The VIII edition of the Assembly of Peoples of the Caribbean, which took place in Trinidad and Tobago, ended Monday with a call for regional unity that was reached upon by debating strategies to counter imperialism. 

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To strengthen the resistance and unity of the organizations and social movements in the Latin American and Caribbean region, Venezuela’s delegation proposed the creation of an International Brigade of the Caribbean, an organization that would work in close solidarity with the peoples of the world, to resist imperial attacks.

Countries present, including Cuba, Surinam, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Haiti among others, agreed that regional integration and collaboration are key to the countermovement solution.

“We want to form an international Caribbean brigade in solidarity with our peoples and to reinforce our processes, and we offer Venezuela as the starting place for the implementation of this initiative,” Lawmaker of the Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly (ANC), Jacobo Torres, who represented the country said.

During the three days of the Assembly, the participants joined the #NoMoreTrump campaign, repudiating imperialist attempts that violate the sovereignty and self-determination of the people; in unison, they rejected the illegal economic blockade against Cuba and Venezuela, which affects the welfare of the two nations.

Before the proposal, Torres recalled the political scenario affecting Venezuela since President Nicolas Maduro took office in 2013. These last years were marked by the United States government’s harsh aggressions against the South American country, in the aim to overthrow its legitimately elected President.

“In six years, they tried all the possible ways to topple President Maduro and his government, they even tried to assassinate him but they failed,” Torres added.

The lawmaker also said that these aggressions are due to the U.S. interest for the Venezuelan natural resources, and above all its oil. This is the reason why they perpetrated a criminal blockade on the assets of the country’s State and illegally appropriated the Venezuelan oil company Citgo.

“They are desperate because they need our oil because the transnational oil companies in the U.S. need for Venezuelan oil.”

Finally, the Venezuelan representative invited countries that participated in the Assembly to continue fighting for the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean and to work on the impulse of the Socialist Front of the Caribbean as part of the elements that contribute to the political fight against U.S. imperialism.

Other topics discussed were humanitarian policies regarding the migration issue, organization, and functionality of social movements, climate change, food sovereignty, colonialism and the consequences of racism and xenophobia in the region.