A protest was held on Saturday by Stop the War Scotland, with support from the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC), Scottish Venezuela Solidarity Campaign and the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign.
Protesters demanded the immediate release of President Maduro and an end to US aggression in Venezuela, and anywhere else in the Americas.
They also call for an end to what they describe as the “UK collusion with the Trump administration’s actions”, and for The Scottish Government to suspend cooperation with the US Government until international law is respected and attacks cease.
Sophie Johnson, Secretary of Stop the War Scotland, said: “These latest assaults by the US Trump administration on Venezuelan sovereignty are an open act of military aggression and imperial domination against a much weaker country. Trump has made no pretence of following international law and boasts that he is grabbing oil and asserting US sovereignty over the entire American hemisphere.
“Yet despite the openly offensive and criminal nature of these attacks, including the abduction of the head of state of a sovereign, independent country, the UK Government meekly bows to US power. We demand the release of Maduro and an end to all aggression. We further demand that the UK Government dissociate itself from these acts and likewise demand this rampage stops.
The failure of US allies to oppose these acts has emboldened Trump to threaten numerous other governments in North and South America, and even to threaten NATO member Denmark over Greenland, which the US Government asserts it wishes to take-over. The spineless collusion of our government in this naked imperialism is aiding and abetting Trump.
In Scotland the John Swinney has acknowledged the illegality of these acts, but pledged to action. It’s time for the Scottish Government to end its trade talks with the US until aggression ceases and international law is complied with. Failure to confront Trump today will mean threats continue to multiply. These events show that, more than ever, we need a powerful anti-war movement to hold our leaders accountable and halt the rapid descent into global conflict.”
