Election Results: Passed
Approve: 798 (98.3%)
Disapprove: 14 (1.7%)
Abstain: 43
Whereas, for well over a century, the United States has been intervening in the internal affairs of Latin America and the Caribbean, including with direct and indirect military interventions;
Whereas, former President Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton called Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua the “Troika of Tyranny,” indicating continuing U.S. hostility to three Latin American nations that have broken with U.S. domination of the region;
Whereas, the U.S. government has imposed deadly economic sanctions against all three nations, including a 60-year-old embargo against Cuba, directly leading to severe shortages of critical supplies of food, medicines and technology, and causing the deaths of tens of thousands of people;
Whereas, the U.S. government is currently engaging in covert intervention into the internal affairs of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, funding opposition organizations, regime change propaganda and attempted coups;
Whereas decades of U.S. intervention in Haiti is responsible for Haiti’s status as the poorest nation in the hemisphere, and also for its current political crisis;
Whereas President Biden continues his predecessors' policies of bullying the sovereign nations of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, while supporting corrupt elites in Haiti;
Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans For Peace condemns U.S. intervention in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Be It Further Resolved that Veterans For Peace urges its members, Chapters and appropriate Working Groups, to monitor U.S. intervention in this hemisphere, and join with other peace and solidarity organizations to restrain the U.S. government from intervening in the internal affairs of Latin American and Caribbean nations.
Submitted by:
Gerry Condon
(206)499-1220
gerrycondon@veteransforpeace.org
Pros and Cons
Pro: Many chapters and members focus a lot of their work on stopping US colonialism in Latin America.
Con: There were no opposing statements on the floor at the annual member meeting.
Board and Committee:
Resolutions Committee Recommendation: Appropriate and Approved
Board of Directors Recommendation: Appropriate and Approved
Convention Floor Vote:
Approve: 100% (78/78)
The resolution is weak because the dogmatic view behind it is incorrect. We would be much wiser to make the point that we oppose US intervention in the region, particularly in Venezuela and Nicaragua despite the corruption and repression of those governments against their people.
In Nicaragua, the once revolutionary President Daniel Ortega has fallen into a cult of personality dictator, systematically denying all significant opposition to him in the upcoming election. His regime has jailed several of the leading original members of the Sandinista Front (FSLN) which overthrew the Somoza dictatorship. It has reacted with unjustified violence against street protests against Ortega’s actions. Our position would be much stronger if we were to state that we oppose US intervention despite all this. The people of Nicaragua can and will determine their nation’s future. Hundreds of US activists who worked in solidarity with the Nicaragua revolution have taken this stand. VFP should as well.
A somewhat similar situation applies to Venezuela, where the Bolivarian Revolution, led by Hugo Chavez, has been replaced by the corrupt, incompetent, dictatorial Maduro regime. Beyond its vicious repression of all opposition, it has destroyed Venezuela’s vibrant economy and caused over 5 million people to flee the country. Again, our position as peace activists would be far more credible if we were to accept these harsh realities and state that nevertheless we strongly oppose any US intervention in Venezuela.
Having a deeper understanding of how best to oppose US intervention anywhere requires dropping the simplistic rhetoric and slogans. But to be honest peace and solidarity activists, it is imperative that we do so. Let the people decide!