February 2, 2019

Manik Mukherjee, vice president of the All India Anti-imperialist Forum (AIAIF), issued the following statement:

The All India Anti-imperialist Forum strongly condemns the U.S.-masterminded move to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro from power, and thereby bring about a coup in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The USA and its bootlickers, the opposition forces, are constantly spreading the lie that President Maduro is a dictator, usurper and illegitimate. However, President Maduro was elected by the Venezuelan people last May with an overwhelming majority, and the election was held under the observation and monitoring of more than 150 international teams, who considered the election to be free, fair, transparent, peaceful and democratic.

With typical imperialist arrogance USA has announced the right-wing opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the “legitimate President” who was not even a candidate in the last presidential election.  This is tantamount to an abject, illegal interference in another country’s sovereignty in the name of democracy to get rid of non-submissive governments.

USA has a notorious record of installing puppet regimes in recalcitrant states under the pernicious slogan of “regime change” and of supporting reactionary right-wing dictatorships so long as they toe the U.S.-sponsored line. They are trying to follow the same tactics in Venezuela. Ever since the time of Hugo Chávez they have been conspiring to destabilize the popular governments in Venezuela. They have been instrumental in ruining the economy of Venezuela by imposing totally unjust and illegal economic sanctions, and are now out to nakedly intervene to bring about a regime change. Such interventions have nothing to do with democracy, but the sole aim is to strengthen U.S. hegemony and tyranny.

The so-called “pro-democracy mass-movement,” as depicted by Western media, is organized from outside, feeding the disgruntled elements trained by U.S. rulers.

These forces are working in Venezuela [for a long time to bring] about the downfall of the economy through monetary and oil price manipulation from outside and from within; and by diverting food and medicine shipments from being delivered to supermarkets and instead transferring them as contraband into Colombia, where they are sold at dollar-manipulated inflated local currencies.

Guaidó has declared himself as interim head of the country on the 23rd of January 2019. Without any legitimate ground, he has, in a naked manner, trampled on democratic rights with the full backing of U.S. imperialists and their lackeys.

He has appealed to the army to turn against democratically elected President Maduro and to support him instead. However, the army has not recognized him as the President of Venezuela and is backing President Maduro. Guaidó has announced his plans to overthrow all the social welfare measures of the previous governments and to bring in mass privatization and to follow neoliberal capitalist policies.

All the progressive-minded people from different sections are protesting against the heinous move of the coup by the U.S. rulers led by Donald Trump who are trying to bulldoze and take over Venezuela!

The AIAIF calls upon the people of all nations not to be deceived by the false propaganda of USA and rise up in protest against the manipulations of the U.S. imperialists and stand firmly by the Venezuelan masses who are struggling to protect their sovereignty.