. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .
An article from Veterans for Peace
Over the last several days, VFP members from around the U.S. have joined the vigil outside the Embassy of Venezuela in support of VFP member Ken Ashe and other peace activists who are under siege inside the Embassy. The activists are in the Embassy at the invitation of the democratically elected government of Venezuela.
Video of arrest
On Tuesday night, five VFP members participated in a successful delivery of food, medicines, and clothing to our friends inside the Embassy. Despite intimidation and physical blocking from right-wingers, we remained nonviolent, and achieved our objective.
But Wednesday afternoon, while attempting a second food delivery, Gerry Condon was surrounded by Secret Service and thrown to the ground. See this Twitter thread to see how violently he was arrested while remaining completely peaceful.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Help us by taking action now!
Call the Secret Service
Call the Secret Service and tell them that you object to their violent treatment of peaceful protesters attempting to legally deliver food to the embassy: 202-406-8800.
Help More VFP Members Get to the Embassy
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Can peace be maintained in the Caribbean region?
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More VFP members are on the way. Some have requested and are receiving travel assistance funds from Veterans For Peace. San Diego VFP has contributed $500 for travel assistance. Chapter 27 in Minneapolis has contributed funds for food for the Embassy Protection Collective (those inside the Embassy).
To donate to VFP efforts, click here!
Most VFP members can stay in DC for a few days to a week. So in order to maintain a VFP presence, we will need to keep a good rotation going. The situation has been made even more critical after the power and water were cut off.
See the full report on VFP joining the Venezuela Embassy Protection Collective
For those folks not in D.C., Veterans For Peace urges all members to participate in this call to action from About Face:
Last Tuesday, opposition politician and self-appointed president of Venezuela Juan Guaido called for Venezeulan military leaders to stop defending President Maduro in an escalation of the attempted coup. While it is clear to us that the crisis in Venezuela continues to be devastating and in dire need of resolution, it is also clear to us that yet another coup supported by the United States will only lead to more disastrous outcomes.
That’s why we have joined calls to end the sanctions on Venezuela (recently linked to 40,000 deaths in the country), and to resume diplomacy and foreclose the possibility of any military intervention by the US.
Fortunately there are options available to us to pressure our Congress members: H.R. 1004 and S.J. Res. 11, which were crafted to hold the Trump administration back from “introducing armed hostilities to Venezuela.” In this moment, reminding our elected representatives that we won’t let history repeat itself in Latin America is vitally important.
Please let them know TODAY that as a constituent, you want them to take action to prevent yet another war waged by the U.S. for private gain and to end the devastating sanctions on Venezuela.
Contact your elected leaders by calling the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121