July 3 webinar: Devastating Earthquakes in Venezuela, U.S. Sanctions and Our Tasks William Castillo Bollé – Venezuelan Vice-Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies, Ministry of People’s Power for Economy, Finance, and Foreign Trade
How to donate for Venezuela Earthquake Relief:
https://venezuelanoestasola.com/#dinero
Code Pink emergency solidarity fund
Peoples Forum: Donate to Earthquake Relief for Venezuela
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Please sign on: Return Venezuela’s Stolen Wealth for Full Quake Recovery
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Maria Páez Victor: Venezuela: Beacon of Solidarity Venezuela experienced a devastating natural catastrophe that was as unpredictable as it was unusual. The nation also became a beacon of national unity and international solidarity. Four days ago, on June 24—a national holiday jointly celebrating St. John the Baptist Day and the key Battle of Carabobo that secured the nation’s independence—Venezuela was struck by twin earthquakes just 39 seconds apart. One measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, followed by a second, greater intensity quake of 7.5.
The authorities have been giving regular updates and as of July 2 report:
- 2,295 fatalities
- 11,267 injured
- 73,937 families attended to
- 774 buildings totaled or irreparably damaged
- 12,600 families homeless
- 38 hospitals damaged
More than 30,000 Venezuelan rescuers worked tirelessly overnight that fateful day. I defy, challenge, any nation on earth to state exactly how prepared it is right now to withstand the fury of nature that has just hit Venezuela.
But Venezuela was not alone in this catastrophe. Among the first international expert rescue teams to arrive were those from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Curacao, Barbuda, and Cuba, followed by Argentina, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Chile, Turkey, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Qatar, UK, Serbia, Syria, Switzerland, France, Germany, and the United Nations. Supplies arrived from China, among others. Pope Leo XIV sent funds to his representative in Venezuela and ordered all parish churches to remain open 24 hours a day to shelter the homeless and help the affected.
Twenty-six years of the Bolivarian Revolution’s social organizing and creation of community consciousness paid off in a most profound way under the deadliest of circumstances. Immediately after the shocks, a veritable army of young motorcyclists crossed the winding highway to help deliver water, food, and other supplies that people were spontaneously donating.
The emergency actions carried out by the government have been reported meticulously, as far as they are able, as events have occurred over these days:
• International aid: A total of 707 tons of international humanitarian assistance has successfully arrived in Venezuela as of June 29.
- 81,589 families have received direct institutional support
- 8,893 tons of food distributed
- 27,614 bags of groceries delivered to families on the affected coast
- 12,049 people attended medically
- 7,976 families have been relocated to one of the largest parks in the city where they are settled in an organized way with tents, and social services.
- All children that have been orphaned or are alone, or are in hospital, are under Special Child Protection to make sure of their safety and identity.
- There is a website with all sorts of helpful information and also an app and a phone number for reporting Missing Persons and other misfortunes.
Venezuelans that are working tirelessly to rescue their fellow countrymen and women, need and have welcomed with open arms the real international solidarity shown by many nations that have sent aid and especially their expert teams to help save lives. That is the wonderful story of solidarity and humanitarian concern that the world should know and applaud.
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Vijay Prashad: The Earthquake in Venezuela and the Politics of Disaster Venezuela is rebuilding amid an information war that obscures the effects of sanctions, frozen assets, and decades of US economic warfare – and turns human suffering into another pretext to discredit the Bolivarian process. Statement in collaboration with: International Peoples’ Assembly, ALBA Movimientos, Sociedad Patriótica, La Union Comunera, Fuerza Patriótica Alexis Vive, and Frente Francisco de Miranda.
Myth One: Venezuela’s government has failed to respond effectively to the earthquake.
Myth Two: The Venezuelan government is blocking humanitarian relief.
Myth Three: Affected communities are being neglected by the Venezuelan government.
Myth Four: US concern for Venezuela can be separated from US hybrid warfare.
Myth Five: The earthquake proves that the Bolivarian process has failed.
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Britain Detains Britain detains human rights lawyer Daniel Kovalik On June 27, U.S. human rights lawyer, professor, journalist and Nicaragua solidarity activist Daniel Kovalik was detained by three counter-terror police officers at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport under paragraph 4 of Schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, which allows border police to detain and question people they believe to be involved in “hostile state activity.” Kovalik — who was visiting England for a wedding — was detained for approximately two and a half hours and interrogated extensively on his political views about “everything under the sun,” including on Israel, Palestinian and Lebanese resistance organisations Hamas and Hezbollah, the war against Iran and on China and Russia.
Kovalik was told he would be arrested if he did not co-operate with the interview or provide the passwords to his electronic devices. Officers seized his phone and laptop, took his DNA, fingerprints and photographs from nine angles, copied his bank and credit cards and rifled through his luggage. Kovalik regrets taking his devices with him, adding that, “Activists and others need to be smart, they shouldn’t be bringing their phones and computers onto international trips. Buy burner phones.”
Events:
July 3 webinar: Devastating Earthquakes in Venezuela, U.S. Sanctions and Our Tasks William Castillo Bollé – Venezuelan Vice-Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies, Ministry of People’s Power for Economy, Finance, and Foreign Trade
July 12 Chicago: Together for Venezuela, A Chicago Cultural Relief Benefit
Chicago ALBA Solidarity 