Influential U.S. Latino Leaders Demand Respect for Venezuela’s Sovereignty

Sept 15, 2006 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- The National Latino Congress, a gathering of more than 1,600 Latino activists and leaders, held in Los Angeles Sept 6-10, adopted a resolution in support of Venezuela, rejecting the “destabilization policies” aimed at “regime change” in Venezuela by the U.S. Government.

Citing the principles of national sovereignty documented in institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and Organization of American States (OAS), the the National Latino Congress called the U.S. Congress to “desist from all covert and Congressionally-approved destabilization policies that are aimed at regime change in Venezuela and to adhere to the principles of national sovereignty.”

In contrast with U.S. Government frequent assertions of lack of democracy in Venezuela, the resolution acknowledged the country’s commitment to democracy by stating that “the people of Venezuela have demonstrated a passion for their democracy since 1998 by twice electing their President Hugo Chavez and defeating a recall referendum in elections sanctioned as free and fair by international observers.”

The U.S. government is actively financing Venezuelan groups that actively oppose the democratically-elected Venezuelan leftist President Hugo Chavez.

The resolution also demanded the dismantling of the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA and the Central American Free Trade Agreement CAFTA.

The National Latino Congress held debates on tactics and strategies for Latino electoral influence, governance, and policy influence at a national scale in the United States.

Venezuela’s Ambassador to the U.S., BernardoAlvarez, joined Latin American Studies professor Miguel Tinker Salas,and journalist David Brooks of the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, held aworkshop on Latin America Policy, Social Movements and the Media.

The meeting featured some of the most influential Latino political figures in the U.S., including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, United Farm Workers Union co-founder Dolores Huerta, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project director Antonio Gonzalez, members of Congress such as Loretta Sanchez, and Xavier Becerra, and non-Latino figures such as Rev. Al Sharpton.

Excerpts of the resolution regarding Venezuela are reproduced below:

Whereas, the people of Venezuela have demonstrated a passion for their democracy since 1998 by twice electing their President Hugo Chavez and defeating a recall referendum in elections sanctioned as free and fair by international observers, and since Venezuela has demonstrated social and corporate responsibility by using the profits derived from their petroleum resources for education, health care and other basic needs of their society, resulting in a reduction in poverty, and have shared their energy resources with low-income families in numerous countries including the United States, and since the U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General found that “NED, Department of Defense, and other U.S. assistance programs provided training, institution building, and other support of individuals and organizations understood to be actively involved in the brief ouster of the “Chavez government” in 2002…

…Be it further resolved that this conference calls on the Congress of the United States of America to desist from all covert and Congressionally-approved destabilization policies that are aimed at regime change in Venezuela and to adhere to the principles of national sovereignty documented in institutions including the United Nations and Organization of American States that stipulate that “Every State has the right to choose, without external interference, its political, economic, and social system and to organize itself in the way best suited to it, and has the duty to abstain from intervening in the affairs of another State.”

Be it further resolved that this conference calls on the Congress of the United States of America to adhere to the many principles of non-intervention and the sovereignty of nations and peoples spelled out and documented in organizations and institutions such as the United Nations and the Organization of American States whom stipulate that " International order consists essentially of respect for the personality, sovereignty, and independence of States" and that "Every State has the right to choose, without external interference, its political, economic, and social system and to organize itself in the way best suited to it, and has the duty to abstain from intervening in the affairs of another State"…