By Raymund B. Villanueva and Angel L. Tesorero
Philippine activist groups held successive rallies at the US Embassy in Manila to protest military attacks in Venezuela and the abduction of the South American country’s head of state.
Hundreds of Filipino protesters marched to the embassy and burned US flags near the embassy on Monday morning following a nighttime protest action Sunday evening.
The activists condemned US air strikes in several Venezuelan cities last Saturday, saying the bombings are a clear act of “imperialist aggression and a grave violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty.”
They also condemned President Nicolás Maduro detention in the US as “abduction of a sovereign head of state.”
“The US government’s kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro constitutes a brazen act of state-sponsored abduction and military aggression, violating the UN Charter’s prohibition on the use of force against sovereign states, principles of head-of-state immunity under customary international law, and Venezuela’s territorial sovereignty,” Bagong Alyasang Makabayan, organizer of the protests, said.
READ: PH groups condemn US attack on Venezuela
The Philippines-Bolivarian Venezuela Friendship Association (PBVFA), a local solidarity group, also condemned US military strikes and aggressions against Venezuela, calling the attack a show of brazen brutality by US imperialism.
“These actions are abhorrent to humanity, representing the worst forms of oppression. These aggressions are not only unwarranted but also criminalized under international law,” PBVFA said.
“In stronger terms, they must be recognized as categorically unjustifiable, a blatant violation of sovereignty and human dignity,” it added.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced the “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela.”
Subsequent videos released by the US government also showed Maduro in cuffs upon arrival in New York.
Multi-sectoral protests
At the Manila rally, the national alliance of women’s organizations Gabriela rejected the US pretext for the invasion that Venezuela as a terrorist and narcotics state.
It said that the military attack on the South American country is only due to the fact that Venezuela refuses US economic and political control.
It pointed out that with at least 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, Venezuela is recognized as the most oil-rich country in the world, a resource the US is desperate to exploit.
“We condemn the US’ criminal action against Venezuela. Filipino women express our solidarity with Venezuela and all other peoples standing up for their rights and freedoms,” Gabriela said.
Philippine legislators and a prominent leader of the Catholic Church also voiced alarm over the US capture of the Venezuelan leader.
Congressman Antonio Tinio from ACT Teachers Party-List was at the forefront of the march to the US Embassy on Monday, while Rep. Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal Partylist) issued a statement saying the US attack “throws the global order back to a barbaric ‘might makes right’ regime.”
“The attack on Venezuela and abduction of President Maduro undermines the rules-based international order, thus setting a terrible precedent of heightened aggression by superpowers,” de Lima pointed out.
Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David, immediate past president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said in a Facebook post: “The international law is clear: ‘All (UN) members shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the political independence of any state (UN Charter, Art. 2).’”
“Whatever one’s judgment about the fall of Maduro, the United States—and President Trump in particular—remain answerable under international law for the violation of a member nation’s sovereignty,” he added, noting: “Democracy cannot be imposed from abroad.”
More condemnations
Meanwhile, global anti-imperialist group International League of Peoples Struggles (ILPS) said that US has again made clear, with the capture of Maduro as latest example, it is the number one violator of international law and most dangerous imperialist.
ILPS said that amid global capitalist crisis and a worsening U.S. economic downturn, the Trump regime is once again using war to pump-prime the sick economy, feed the military-industrial complex, and secure cheap access to strategic energy and mineral supplies.
“Instead of addressing poverty, social inequality, and climate chaos at home, it chooses the tried and tested path of blood-soaked ‘growth’ through weapons contracts, sanctions, and resource grabs, exporting suffering to oppressed peoples and nations while claiming to defend ‘freedom,’” the group said.
ILPS accused Trump of shameless war-mongering abroad “that mirrors its impunity and moral rot at home where corruption, corporate capture of government, and unresolved allegations of sexual abuse and misogyny remain entrenched and unpunished.
“A ruling clique that cannot deliver justice to women, workers, indigenous peoples and communities of color within its borders has no legitimacy to speak of ‘law’ or ‘human rights’ as it bombs and kidnaps elected leaders overseas,” ILPS said.
In a separate statement, the underground revolutionary Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) called Trump a “fascist madman” for carrying out the early morning bombing around the Venezuela’s capital Caracas and other states as well as Maduro and wife Cilia Flores’s abduction.
“The clear aim of the US is to overthrow the Maduro government which has distinguished itself for having upheld the Bolivarian revolution and militantly defended Venezuela’s sovereignty,” the CPP said.
It called on the Filipino people to “join ranks with peoples across the world in denouncing US wars of intervention and threats of war in all parts of the world.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
