Venezuela
Orinoco Tribune: Venezuela Condemns Israel’s Criminal Aggression Against Iran Venezuela “categorically condemns the illegitimate, unjustified, and international law-violating military aggression perpetrated by the State of Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is an act of war that adds to the long history of crimes by the Netanyahu regime, whose machinery of destruction operates outside of any legal framework. We express our deepest solidarity with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, and the Iranian people in the face of this cowardly attack…We reiterate that there will be no peace without justice and that justice begins with halting the arms-fueled madness of Israel, a military enclave, genocidaires of the Palestinian people, and war criminals who have become the greatest threat to peace for humanity.”
Orinoco Tribune: President Maduro: Marco Rubio’s Plan to Overthrow Colombia President Petro Maduro condemned Secretary of State Rubio’s plan in Colombia “to overthrow the progressive government of President Gustavo Petro and impose a scenario for the return of a far-right, neo-fascist government.” The plan “aims to fill all of Colombia with criminal gangs, violence, and terrorism.” …Venezuela itself shows “it is possible to have a country at peace, especially at this time, when we see how the geopolitics of the Americas is shifting toward destroying popular and nationalist leadership.” “We saw how Argentinian fascism attacked former Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and we send our solidarity to her and the brave people of Argentina.” President Maduro called out the electoral fraud in Ecuador, directed “by the Albanian mafia entrenched in Ecuador,” as well as the coup attempts, imprisonment, and assassination plots against Brazilian President Lula.
Orinoco Tribune: President Maduro, Venezuela: International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court Complicit in Gaza Genocide President Maduro accused the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) of being partly responsible for the war between Israel and Iran because they have been complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. He described as “unacceptable and distressing” the silence of governments and international institutions in the face of the genocide Israel is committing. “If the ICC and the ICJ, which are two different courts, had not dedicated themselves to obeying the mandates of Washington, London, Paris, and Brussels, things would be different, and with justice there would be peace. Only justice and respect for international law will bring us peace.”
Ultimas Noticias: Foreign Minister Gil: Venezuela Has Resisted and Overcome Sanctions Through Own Efforts Minister Gil said unilateral coercive measures are part of a new form of colonialism. Through economic suffocation, they are trying to force “our entire nation to submit to the dictates of Washington and its satellites. What a disregard for our history, our ideals, and the warrior blood of the Venezuelan people, heirs to Liberator Simón Bolívar’s struggle.” … “Today, despite all the aggression, the attempts at military invasion, the attacks, sieges, and the legal war; despite the assassination attempts against the President of the Republic and high-ranking officials, despite the violence and the unilateral coercive measures, Venezuela is one of the most politically and socially stable countries in our hemisphere.” …Minister Gil clarified that “our economy is resurfacing under the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro. That is a reality that the traditional media will never report.” He also emphasized that “every day this policy against Venezuela persists, the alternative capacities for economic, political, social, and cultural development of its people will be strengthened and realized.”
Venezuelanalysis: Venezuela Secures UN Recognition of International Day Against Unilateral Coercive Measures (December 4) The Venezuelan government has welcomed the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of December 4 as the International Day Against Unilateral Coercive Measures. The resolution was approved with 116 votes in favor, 51 against, and 6 abstentions. Venezuela, on behalf of the 16-member Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, proposed the date to raise awareness about the negative humanitarian impact of coercive measures and take a symbolic stance against this violation of international law. The US and its allies opposed the initiative. Venezuela has been subjected to unilateral coercive measures, commonly known as sanctions, imposed by successive US administrations targeting a range of economic sectors and particularly the nation’s most vital revenue source—its oil industry.
The measures have encompassed financial sanctions, an oil export embargo, a blanket ban on all dealings with Caracas, secondary sanctions, and the freezing or seizure of Venezuelan assets abroad. Oil sanctions alone have cost Venezuela an estimated US $25 billion in lost yearly revenue since 2017. Former UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de Zayas estimated over 100,000 deaths because of sanctions by early 2020. In 2021, UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan conducted a visit to Venezuela and concluded that wide-reaching US sanctions had a “devastating” impact on the population’s living conditions and that “humanitarian exemptions” have proven largely ineffective in alleviating these hardships due to the phenomenon of “overcompliance.”
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Cuba
World Beyond War (David Swanson): A U.S. Bank Closed Our Accounts Because I’d Visited Cuba Six Months Ago When I visited Cuba this past January it was with a visa for that purpose. I published here the remarks I made at the conference. Legally, you’re allowed to go to a peace conference in Cuba. Nobody has so much as hinted that I’ve done anything illegal. But on Thursday June 5th I got a bunch of letters in the mail telling me that on June 9th the U.S. bank accounts of World BEYOND War and the private accounts of all my family members would be closed without explanation…The U.S. has not offered any reason for keeping Cuba on a list of nations sponsoring terrorism. One would think that Cuba would have had to, you know, sponsor some terrorism… Can I go silent and fearful and not denounce and expose any part of this disturbing trend that I’m able to warn others about? Of course not. Just normal existence these days requires calculating risks and some modicum of courage.
The Burning Spear: Cuba, freedom, and the future: Lessons from a revolutionary society In May 2025, I traveled as part of the L.A. Hands Off Cuba Committee on a delegation organized by unionist and political activist Mark Friedman that brought over $500,000 worth of medical supplies to the Cuban people. What we encountered was not just a society under siege by US imperialism, but a people transformed by revolution, determined to defend their freedom. …Almost every Cuban is employed and belongs to one of the 15 unions. If someone loses a job, the union and employer work together to reassign them, ensuring continued income. In addition to employment rights, every Cuban has free education, healthcare, housing, and pays no taxes.
The 62-year US blockade prevents access to international banking, loans, imported goods like oil, and the export of Cuba’s renowned doctors. Ships that dock in Cuba must wait 180 days for U.S. entry approval. This has left hospitals and clinics struggling to access medications and equipment—relying instead on international solidarity and underresourced government support. What I take most from this trip is that the Cuban people forged this society through struggle and sacrifice. They are still fighting, they are a blade of steel, forged from the blood of their past, cutting through every effort to return them to subjugation.
Peoples Dispatch: Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernández de Cossio: Could any nation survive what Cuba endures? What is unique about Cuba, what distinguishes its situation above all other factors, is the fact that it is the target of a ruthless, prolonged, and extremely asymmetric economic war by the United States, the world’s greatest economic, technological, and military power. There is no similar example in the long and disastrous history of the use of unilateral coercive measures for political purposes by developed countries against developing countries. The impact of the US effort to hinder Cuba’s trade relations worldwide is overwhelming. The US ability to impede, obstruct, and sabotage Cuba’s access to sources of financing in any country or region is more effective today than ever before.
Representatives of the current US administration have acknowledged that their objective is to refine the design of the maximum pressure policy to make it more effective in terms of harm to the Cuban economy and people. They have stated that they will be more creative in identifying and attempting to cut off Cuba’s external sources of income, with the clear objective of collapsing the economy. Consider what country would have had the capacity like Cuba to confront such a ruthless war under such disadvantaged conditions. The recent shock among many countries at the US government’s tariff measures provides a very faint and comparatively insignificant signal of the damaging effect that US coercive measures can have.
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Nicaragua
Nicaragua statement at UN debate on the elimination of unilateral coercive measures 3) These unilateral coercive measures, many of them of an extraterritorial nature, constitute a flagrant violation of international law. 7) In Nicaragua, we have been the subject of extraterritorial laws such as the infamous “Nica Act” and the so-called “RENACER Law”. Through these regulations, attempts are being made to block our country’s access to financial resources, hinder our international cooperation, and paralyze our institutions through threats to public officials. 13) The inaction of international mechanisms in the face of indiscriminate bombings, forced displacement and collective punishment in Gaza highlights the double standards of Western countries that weaken the multilateral system.
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Events
June 22, 3 pm ET Nicaragua Webinar: Our Time in Nicaragua: Veterans for Peace Report Back With Gerry Condon (delegation leader, VFP national Board Member and past President); Josh Shurley (VFP national Vice President); Michael Kramer (President, Northern New Jersey VFP); Douglas Ryder (President, Raleigh/Durham, NC VFP); Dan Shea (President, Portland, Oregon VFP); Al Glatkowski (At-Large VFP member in Virginia); Chris Smiley (VFP Communications Director, Managua). Webinar Co-moderator: Camilo Mejía, Nicaraguan citizen, US veteran, former prisoner of conscience.
June 22: Belgium – Protest for Peace and Justice: No to NATO War Summit An international protest will take place in The Hague in response to the upcoming NATO Summit (June 24 and 25). A protest against the increasing militarisation of Western powers and their support for the ongoing Israeli offensive in Palestine. June 23: Peace Conference in Brussels
June 29: Webinar on Venezuela election: Chavistas Sweep Elections while US Silent Sonya Surabhi Gupta, Mohammad Marandi (University of Tehran), Jesus Rodriguez (Orinoco Tribune), Cira Pascual Marquina, Arnold August, Alison Bodine, Diego Sequera (Mision Verdad)
July 4: International Rally: Sanctions Kill – US out of Venezuela & Latin America Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental//Carlos Ron, Vice-Minister, Foreign Affairs, Venezuela//Alicia Castro, former Argentinian Ambassador to Venezuela & UK//Fravia Marquez Silva, International Summit for Anti-imperialist Africans & Afro-Descendants, Venezuela // Dáire Hughes MP, Sinn Fein, Ireland//Felix Plasencia, Venezuelan Ambassador//Kate Hudson, CND//Francisco Dominguez, VSC//Gawain Little, GFTU//Fiona Sim, Black Liberation Alliance//Sarah Woolley BFAWU
Monday, July 8, at 2:30 pm ET. Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition monthly meeting on Zoom. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com for zoom access.
NSCAG Webinar, Tuesday, July 9, 6:30 pm BST (1:30 pm ET): Nicaragua’s free education for all: A right, not a commodity.
Nicaragua Webinar Sunday, July 27, 3 pm ET: Features two groups of visitors exploring the Nicaraguan health system and Solidarity in Action: Nicaragua’s Popular Revolution. Speakers will also share their experiences from the July 19 celebration.
Nicaragua Webinar Sunday, August 24, 3 pm ET: Will focus on SINAPRED, Nicaragua’s highly successful National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters.
Nicaragua Webinar Sunday, September 21, 3 pm ET: Speakers from Nicaragua and Venezuela will discuss the remarkable affordable housing programs in these two countries.
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Delegations to Cuba, Nicaragua:
Cuba
Witness for Peace delegations to Cuba
July 7-24: Visit Cuba with Helen Yaffe
November 15-23: Cooperatives & 10 Best Practices in Cuba
Friendly Planet delegations to Cuba
Nicaragua
Casa Ben Linder Email casabenjaminlinder@gmail.com to apply:
July 2025: Solidarity in Action: Nicaragua’s Popular Revolution
November 2025: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua
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