Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at the closing ceremony of the Congress Against Fascism, Neo-Fascism, and Similar Expressions, Caracas, September 11, 2024. Photo: Presidential Press.
A constant in two centuries of U.S. interference in the region is the obsession to destroy any sovereign or moderately progressive project.
Originally published in Granma.
In 1937, when the Spanish Republic was resisting the assault of Franco's troops, decisively supported by Hitler and Mussolini, and in the face of the complicit silence of most of the European governments, the clamor of the best intellectuals of the time was raised in Valencia. From there, Juan Marinello sentenced: "it is not possible to fight fascism without attacking its twin brother, imperialism."
Today the United States has many open fronts in the world. It is stirring up conflicts in Europe, in the Middle East, in the Far East -to speak only of the best known right now-, and even within the country, conflicts are flaring up that are endangering its own version of democracy. None of this prevents them from forgetting our region, which they continue to consider their backyard.
Heirs of a two-hundred-year history based on formulations such as the "empire for freedom" proclaimed by Jefferson, with its inevitable corollary in the Monroe Doctrine and the policy of Manifest Destiny; in line with the dozens of direct or indirect interventions, barracks, judicial coups, blockades and pressures of all kinds in Latin America and the Caribbean from the mid-nineteenth century until today, the United States maintains intact its imperial vocation over the territories south of the Rio Grande, and renews it again and again.
A constant in these two centuries of interference is the obsession to destroy any sovereign or moderately progressive project in the region, not to mention, of course, the unrestrained and relentless war against those who defend revolutionary alternatives. At a time when the world and our own continent are witnessing the advance of the extreme right, the attacks are multiplying and becoming more evident. Meanwhile, a new iron lady, General Richardson, head of the dreadful Southern Command, travels part of our geography -recently Chile, as before Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay-, so that everyone remembers who is in charge.
But there are peoples who do not obey or accept empires, doctrines or manifest destinies. For that reason, the most rabid destabilizing crusade is being waged against Venezuela today, which includes from fascist violence, armed conspiracies such as the one denounced just a few days ago, the brazen interference of foreign governments, to the incessant smear campaign through hegemonic media, digital platforms and social networks.
All this without discounting economic sanctions: the weapon that Lester D. Mallory, an obscure Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs recommended, in the Cuban case, in 1960, in order to "provoke hunger, desperation and the overthrow of the Government". The same weapon that ten years later, as soon as Salvador Allende was elected, President Nixon, also known among his compatriots as Dirty Dick, would instruct his Secretary of State to use: "the Chilean economy must be made to squeak". Similar also to the one used a decade later against the Sandinista Revolution, and so usual today in a good part of the world.
Being the most scandalous and open, the onslaught against Venezuela -as against Cuba, about to turn 65 years old- is not unique. Honduras is once again facing the specter of a coup d'état, when the previous one is still fresh in the memory of its citizens. For his part, President Gustavo Petro has warned that "a Colombian-style coup d'état has begun". And in Mexico, the government of López Obrador decided to put relations with the United States on hold, in view of the interference of its officials in decisions that are the exclusive responsibility of Mexican men and women.
The unity of revolutionaries was one of the main demands of the World Congress against Fascism, held in Caracas on September 10 and 11. Today we see with pain and anguish that in sister Bolivia a suicidal division is growing that can only benefit the fascist forces and the empire. The same forces -those sinister twins- that the Congress called to confront, as one of the greatest dangers that humanity suffers today, with the creation of an Anti-Fascist International.
From Casa de las Americas we ratify all our support to the nascent Antifascist International and its decision to make Our America and the world a space where the right to life and human dignity prevails above all else.
The U.S. has declared China to be an adversary, but its economic prowess cannot be eclipsed by a nation that is addicted to provocation and war making.
This week’s featured author is Brian Jones. Jones is Director of The New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools. His book is The Tuskegee Student Uprising: A History.
This week’s featured scholar is Moya Bailey. Bailey is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. Her article is “The Ethics of Pace.”
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