Political and social forces in Italy announced a new national demonstration against the U.S. military attack on Venezuela and for the release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, according to a statement released in Rome.
The joint call indicates that the march will take place next Saturday, January 10, and will proceed through the streets of downtown Rome, from the Esquiline Square to the U.S. Embassy in the capital.
Among the organizations that launched this initiative are the People’s Power, Socialist Homeland, and Communist Network parties; the youth organizations Cambiare Rotta, Alternative Student Opposition (OSA), the Historical Pact of Italy, and the Latin American Progressive Platform.
“Hands off the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela! Stop US imperialism and Zionism! Freedom for Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores!” are the slogans of this call to action, which was also joined by the social organizations ARCI and CRED, the Palestinian Student Movement, and the La Villetta per Cuba Association, among others.
“We are taking to the streets to demonstrate our internationalist solidarity with Venezuela,” to denounce the governments that support the aggression against that nation, against US imperialism, and the colonialist resurgence of the Monroe Doctrine in Latin America, the document states.
“We express our solidarity and closeness with the Chavista people and the Bolivarian revolutionary process,” and “we condemn the US state terrorism that struck that country and kidnapped the legitimate president, Nicolás Maduro, and Cilia Flores,” the text adds. On January 5, during a massive demonstration in Rome, protesters emphasized the importance of expanding the protests against the US imperialist attack on the Bolivarian nation, a violation of international law.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered until late Monday night in Barberini Square, located in the heart of Rome, very close to the US embassy, which remains heavily guarded by security forces.
“We firmly condemn the expansion of war as a tool for resolving conflicts between states and the latest and extremely serious escalation of hostilities brought about by the Trump administration’s military attack against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president,” they affirmed in a proclamation read during the rally.
Since last Saturday, protests against this aggression have been taking place in this country. During the past weekend, marches were held in major cities such as Rome, Milan, Bologna, Naples, Turin, as well as Rimini, Cuneo, Salerno, Savona, Imperia and Empoli, in which thousands of people participated.
