U.S. Hands Off Venezuela! with William Camacaro, of the NYC Bolivarian Circle reporting from the barrios of Venezuela, where he has brought a delegation of U.S. people to observe the situation on the ground and deliver to the Venezuelan people the message that we the people oppose the U.S. Governments empire aggression and intervention.
While Venezuelas economic crisis is routinely blamed all on Venezuela, it is much more than that. American sanctions are deliberately aiming to wreck Venezuelas economy and thereby lead to regime change. Its a fruitless, heartless, illegal, and failed policy, causing grave harm to the Venezuelan people.
Among the results of broad economic sanctions implemented by the Trump administration since August 2017:
* An estimated more than 40,000 deaths from 2017-18;
* The sanctions have reduced the availability of food and medicine, and increased disease and mortality;
* The U.S. sanctions implemented since January, if they continue will almost certainly result in tens of thousands more avoidable deaths;
* This is based on an estimated 80,000 people with HIV who have not had antiretroviral treatment since 2017, 16,000 people who need dialysis, 16,000 people with cancer, and 4 million with diabetes and hypertension (many of whom cannot obtain insulin or cardiovascular medicine);
* Since the sanctions that began in January 2019, oil production has fallen by 431,000 barrels per day or 36.4 percent. This will greatly accelerate the humanitarian crisis, but the projected 67 percent decline in oil production for the year, if the sanctions continue, would cause vastly more loss of human life."
Nevertheless, in an exclusive report back from Venezuela Camacaro reports: The people here are amazingly calm and incredibly resilient despite the sanctions and constant threat of military intervention. ... The U.S. does not seem to understand the pulse of the street nor does it understand the history of the Venezuelan military. Juan Guaid and Donald Trump made a huge mistake picking May 1st as the day to stage yet another failed coup attempt. May 1st is International Workers Day, a day when many thousands across the world come into the street to raise righteous resistance in solidarity with the working class across the globe. If they are attempting to demoralize our forces, they have instead increased the militancy and number of those who will be in the streets tomorrow to further resist efforts to destabilize the country and bring about regime change " the spirit of the Bolivarian Revolution will continue!
produced by Mimi Rosenberg and Ken Nash
please notify us if you plan to broadcast this program = knash@igc.org