June 9, 2015
Revolutionary forces, social movements and organized communities in Venezuela took to the streets on Sunday to repudiate the presence of former Spanish President Felipe Gonzalez, who visited the country as part of a campaign by the national and international right-wing to attack democracy and peace in the country.
Gonzalez, founder of the paramilitary organization GAL in the ’90s and recently declared by the Venezuelan Parliament as persona non grata, aims to advocate for the release of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who is being held in Ramo Verde military prison, outside of Caracas, for promoting violence in early 2014, with the plan called La salida (The exit), which caused the deaths of at least 43 Venezuelans.
Gonzalez said he will also become the lawyer of Antonio Ledezma, charged for his role in terrorist actions against the country, aimed at overthrowing the constitutional government of President Nicolas Maduro.
In Guarenas (Miranda state), cradle of the popular uprising of 1989, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) recommended the former Spanish president that “instead of investing time in Venezuela, he should help correct the mess that his party (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) and the Popular Party made in Spain,” said Rodolfo Sanz, revolutionary leader and mayor of the Plaza municipality.
At this event, member of the National Assembly Blanca Eekhout urged revolutionary activists to continue with the task of defending the sovereignty and the country’s peace. “Here’s the PSUV, struggling to keep the paths of peace and democracy,” she said in remarks broadcast by state media.
In Sucre state, popular movements joined to reject Gonzalez’s visit. The state governor, Luis Acuña said that “today we are telling former president Felipe Gonzalez that Venezuela is now a free country and is not the same as 500 years ago when colonized by the Spanish Empire.”
Also in Maracaibo, Zulia state, PSUV activists came together to show their support for their Venezuelan peers and the government of Nicolas Maduro.
Magdelis Valbuena, regional leader of the PSUV, said “we are here to demonstrate the Venezuelan strength and sovereignty that will not allow interference by elements outside the country.”
She regretted that Gonzalez showed up in Venezuelan land to support national right-wing figures who have a history of calling for ongoing guarimbas (violent riots), which killed more than 40 Venezuelans in the first half of 2014; the coup in 2002 and multiple campaigns to disrupt the peace and democracy in Venezuela.
In Caracas, specifically in the Plaza Catia square, revolutionaries also came out in favor of peace and sovereignty. Estefania Cartaya, youth leader of the PSUV, said that “whole Catia closes ranks with President Maduro” and join the defense of the Bolivarian Revolution “which our Commander left us.”
The presence of Felipe Gonzalez in the country has caused a wave of rejection by the people, that aside from these street actions have expressed themselves through the social networks with the #FelipeFueraDeAqui (FelipeGetOutOfHere) and #VenezuelaSeRespeta (VenezuelaIsRespected) labels.
Source: News Venezuelan Agency (AVN)