PERTH’S Venezuelan community has distance itself from Monday’s “Hands Off Venezuela” protest, calling it “a radical left propaganda campaign” with “an agenda” that did not represent them.
Following US soldiers seizing Venezuela’s autocratic president Nicolás Maduro, the Australian Socialist Party organised the protest, demanding “the Albanese government immediately condemn the actions of the US”.
Outside the US consulate in Perth, an estimated 100 people attended, though Venezuelan expat Vic (who asked for her surname to be withheld due to safety concerns for family back home) said the number was closer to 50.
Among those present were Greens MPs Sophie McNeill and Tim Clifford and past WA labor premier Peter Dowding.
Vic says she is “99.99 per cent” sure there was not a single Venezuelan there in support of the protest and criticised media coverage for failing to ask where attendees were from, saying the absence of Venezuelan voices was evident.
• Venezuelans held their own gathering this week, but say a protest at the US consulate in Perth didn’t reflect their feelings about the situation in their country.
Propaganda
In response to the protest the Venezolanos en Perth WA Instagram account took to socials reposting:
“Venezuelans are not part of ‘Hands Off Venezuela’. It’s a radical left propaganda campaign that does not represent us.
“‘Never have I seen so many foreigners’ concerned about Venezuelan oil, they never cared before…They didn’t care about 27 years of massacres, tortures, and murders. But now, suddenly, oil has become a noble cause. I only recommend one thing: talk to a Venezuelan before you give your opinion.”
Vic, who left Venezuela in 2004 with her family due to concerns she developed while working in the oil and gas industry, said she feels the media is only now paying attention to Venezuela following US intervention, even though the country had been governed by autocratic socialist administrations since 1999.
“I have been inviting them [the media] for a long time since 2013; we have been trying to contact to let them know to see what is going to happen or what international coalition and alliance will be to save or to support [Venezuelans].
“When you have the democracy and there is a problem, you can solve it. But when you have a regime that anyone who protests to them is a threat to them and is jail or is a disappearance or is a persecution, you know, it’s not easy, isn’t it?” Vic said.
Vic says Venezuela’s resources had long been exploited by foreign interests before US president Donald Trump took an interest.
Kidnapped
“The reality is that Venezuelan resources have been kidnapped by the regime, by Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba for many, many years,” she said.
“Actually, the only one who pays in cash for the oil is the United States, and everybody else pays by services.
“So, when people say the greedy, bully Tump wants all the resources, I’m like, ‘the resources of Venezuela has been kidnapped for many years’.”
The US imposed sanctions on Venezuela under the first Trump administration, targeting the government and its state oil company. These blocked Venezuela from selling oil and receiving payments through normal banking channels, aiming to put pressure on the government over democracy, human rights, and corruption.
Vic says whilst she isn’t “100 per cent happy with what is happening” regarding the US’s intervention, she also says “the reality is that the Venezuelan people have tried to democratically get the government changed, or the regime changed for a proper, democratically elected government” but have not been successful.
“Are we happy for what Trump has done? No. But what other options do we have? Having been 26 years with the International Criminal Court? There has been crime against humanity in Venezuela for many years, many years.”
Ms McNeill told the Chook she “spoke at the protest in support of the right of the people of Venezuela to determine their own future and in opposition to the USA’s clear violations of international law”
“After decades of repression, Venezuelans deserve to live in a rights-respecting democracy, led by Venezuelans,” she said in her speech.
“Where their freedoms and right to participate in free and fair elections are respected.
“Not to live under the rule of a foreign power; at the whim of what president Trump wants for his pockets and for profits of fossil fuel giants.”
Ms McNeill told the Chook the protest should not be seen as “pro-Maduro,” but rather as a demonstration focused on condemning the United States’ breach of international law.
“The action outside the US consulate was against the US military aggression, it was not in support of the Maduro regime,” Ms McNeill said.
A spokesperson for the Venezuelan Perth community Facebook group Gus said speaking out is a major concern for Venezuelans who live in Australia, who worry for their families back home and the repercussions that could come from these types of protests.
“The majority of Venezuelans living abroad are there because they had to leave the country (for safety and security concerns/reasons), and they still have family in Venezuela where the repression/suppression continues,” Gus said.
“So, sometimes we feel concerned (vulnerable to retribution to family members in Venezuela) about giving a declaration (even) here in Australia.”
by ISLA TOMLINSON