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The People’s Organization For Progress has condemned the Trump administration’s military invasion of Venezuela and the kidnapping of that country’s president that took place on Saturday.
“The military attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of the country’s president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores was an illegal act of war. We unequivocally condemn this action as a war crime,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.
“It was a criminal military intervention because the Congress of the United States has not declared war on Venezuela. According to the Constitution it is Congress not the President that has the power to declare war,” Hamm said.
“President Trump attacked and invaded a country that did not attack the United States. This was an act of aggression. This was a war crime,” he declared.
“Kidnapping and holding hostage that country’s president on trumped up drug charges is also a war crime. Everyone knows that our attack on Venezuela has little to do with drugs and everything to do with oil, rare earths and valuable minerals,” he said.
Hamm said he also suspects that Trump may have political reasons for making war with Venezuela at this time. It could be a way for the president to distract public attention way from how poorly the economy is doing, and the growing controversy surrounding his connection to the Epstein files.
“And if we occupy that country militarily as President Trump says he plans to do, that too shall be a war crime. When he ran for president he said he wouldn’t engage in regime change. That’s exactly what this is,” he stated.
“Trump said that we wouldn’t have any more never ending wars. So, how long will U.S. troops be in Venezuela? Will it be twenty years like Afghanistan? How much will it cost U.S. taxpayers?,” he asked.
“If we occupy that country for a prolonged period it will probably end up costing billions of dollars. Rather than spending all of that money on war we should spend it on health care, jobs, housing, and education,” he said.
“We just went through a round of federal budget cuts that slashed billions from social programs. It never fails. There is never enough money to fund people’s needs but there is always money for another war,” he said.
Hamm said the removal of Maduro is the latest in a long line of coups and military interventions aimed at removing leaders of other nations who stand in the way of U.S. interests and acquisition of their natural resources.
He said Mohammad Mossadegh, Jacobo Arbenz, Patrice Lumumba, Ngo Dinh Diem, Sukarno, Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara, Maurice Bishop, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Nicolas Maduro and other national leaders were overthrown by the U.S. government.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency also assisted in the capture of Nelson Mandela when he was fighting against the racist white minority apathied regime in South Africa. Mandela served 27 years in prison and went on to become South Africa’s president.
“The extraction of Maduro brings to mind that of another victim of U.S. regime change, Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. He was also accused of drug smuggling. The U.S. invaded Panama and seized Noriega who was eventually imprisoned,” he said.
Another situation similar to the kidnapping of Maduro was that of President Aristide of Haiti. Aristide was taken by U.S. military forces from Haiti to the Central African Republic. He remained in exile on the African continent for seven years before returning to Haiti.
“The U.S. should cease all hostilities against Venezuela immediately, withdraw our forces from that country, and return President Maduro and his wife to Caracas. This attack is all wrong and it will have catastrophic consequences,” he said.
“Congress must do its job and rein in this out of control president before he destroys that country, brings dangerous unrest to the region, destabilizes the hemisphere, and sets the world on fire,” he said.
For more information contact the People’s Organization For Progress at (973)801-0001.
