(Updated Feb. 20) Asia-Pacific socialists condemn latest US-backed coup attempt in Venezuela

Protest on April 11, 2004, commemorates the April 11, 2002, coup attempt that almost succeeded in overthrowing Hugo Chavez.

[If your organisation would like to sign this statement please email int.psm@gmail.com.]

February 17, 2015 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- We, the undersigned organisations, strongly condemn the recent coup attempt that sought to overthrow the democratically elected government of Venezuela in order to reverse the achievements of the socialist Bolivarian process.

The failed coup attempt was crafted around a plan that involved creating an economic assault on the country, creating an international debate around a supposed humanitarian crisis, a political coup involving officials who would turn on the government, and finally a military coup that would lead to the installation of the transitional program. The coup plotters even planned to bomb Miraflores [presidential] Palace and the TeleSUR offices in Caracas, as well as conducting assassinations of both members of the opposition and the government, including President Maduro, during the ensuing chaos once the coup unfolded.

The US, which has backed previous coup attempts, including that against the former President Hugo Chavez in 2002, has been implicated in the coup plot. Those involved were paid in US dollars and one of the coup plotters was granted a visa to the United States in case the coup plot failed.

Such a coup plot is not the first or the last attempt to remove the democratically elected government in Venezuela and to defeat the Bolivarian revolutionary process, which poses threat to the US imperialist interests in the region.

We hereby:

Denounce all forms of undemocratic means that seek to overthrow the revolutionary Bolivarian government of Venezuela.

Oppose to all imperialist interventions in Venezuela.

Reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Venezuela in defence of the Bolivarian revolutionary process and their great effort in building socialism in the 21st century.

[If your organisation would like to sign this statement please email int.psm@gmail.com.]