SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila says the US is “a rogue state run by a moron” and that they will be marching to the US embassy on Thursday to protest against the arrest of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and demand his immediate release.
Speaking on Tuesday during the 31st commemoration of the death of the party’s former general secretary Joe Slovo in Soweto, Mapaila accused the US of imperialism and of invading Venezuela.
“They launched a military operation, attacked Venezuela, attacked its territorial integrity, attacked its national sovereignty and abducted its president,” said Mapaila.
They launched a military operation, attacked Venezuela, attacked its territorial integrity, attacked its national sovereignty and abducted its president
— Solly Mapaila, SACP general secretary
“They inflicted him, injured him and disrespected him. That disrespect and cowardly act was a disrespect to all of us in the world. All of us who suffered under colonialism.
“President Maduro presents a movement, Venezuela has build the most exciting socialism in the world. That socialism cannot be broken, not by weapon, not by steel. It’s a conscious socialism. In this regard, we are calling for his immediate release, unconditional release. We want the US government to stop this concocted charges against President Maduro.
“This attitude of the United States and its allies in Europe, who are muted and could not condemn what Donald Trump was doing, must come to an end.”
According to Mapaila, the US has attacked and invaded 70 countries since 1947. He said the US is “a butcher state, a criminal state, a rogue state”.
“The worst thing is that now a moron is in charge in the most powerful country in the world,” said Mapaila
Venezuela ambassador to SA Carlos Acevedo, who had also attended the commemoration, said what they saw three days ago was “a criminal terrorist attack by the US administration against the people of Venezuela”.
“They have struck us, they have bombed us, they have killed dozens of people, civilians and military personnel. They have kidnapped our president and his wife but they haven’t defeated us.
“The people of Venezuela are still standing, the Bolivarian revolution is still going on, and we will succeed and we will prevail. We are now launching an international solidarity campaign, asking for the release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
“Our revolutionary forces in Venezuela are still united, and we are not going to allow the US imperialism to rule on our country, to rule on our people. That will not happen, never.” he said.
Sowetan
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