Over 200 Filipinos burn US flags, condemn capture of Venezuelan President Maduro

More than 200 Filipino activists gathered at the US Embassy in Manila on Monday to denounce what they call “US imperialist aggression and a grave violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty.” They also condemned the US air strikes in several Venezuelan cities on Saturday and called the capture of President Nicolas Maduro "abduction of a sovereign head of state".

Shouting anti-US war slogans and carrying banners and placards declaring ¡Manos fuera de Venezuela! (Hands off Venezuela!), the protesters demanded non-interference in the affairs of the South American country, which has the world's largest estimated oil reserves.

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The Philippines-Bolivarian Venezuela Friendship Association (PBVFA), a local solidarity group, called the US military strikes over the weekend “a show of brazen brutality by US imperialism."

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“These actions are abhorrent to humanity, representing the worst forms of oppression. These aggressions are not only unwarranted but also criminalised under international law,” PBVFA said in a statement shared with Khaleej Times. “In stronger terms, they must be recognised as categorically unjustifiable, a blatant violation of sovereignty and human dignity,” the group added.

The Filipino protesters marched to the embassy and burned US flags as a show of defiance. The group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, organiser of Monday’s rally, said: “The US government's kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro constitutes a brazen act of state-sponsored abduction and military aggression, violating the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force against sovereign states, principles of head-of-state immunity under customary international law, and Venezuela's territorial sovereignty.”

Also present at the Manila rally was Gabriela, an alliance of various women’s organisations. They rejected the US pretext for the invasion that Venezuela was a terrorist and narcotics state. The group said that “the military attack was due to the fact that Venezuela refuses US economic and political control.”

Gabriela pointed out that with at least 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, Venezuela is recognised as the most oil-rich country in the world, a resource the US seeks to exploit. “We condemn the US’ criminal action against Venezuela. Filipino women express our solidarity with Venezuela and all other peoples standing up for their rights and freedoms,” Gabriela underscored.

Philippine legislators and a prominent Catholic Church leader also voiced alarm over the US capture of the Venezuelan leader. Congressman Antonio Tinio from ACT Teachers Party-List led the march to the US Embassy on Monday, while Rep. Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal Partylist) issued a statement saying the US attack “throws the global order back to a barbaric ‘might makes right’ regime.”

“The attack on Venezuela and abduction of President Maduro undermines the rules-based international order, thus setting a terrible precedent of heightened aggression by superpowers,” de Lima pointed out.

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the immediate past president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, for his part, said in a Facebook post on Monday: “The international law is clear: 'All (UN) members shall refrain from the threat or use of force against the political independence of any state (UN Charter, Art. 2).

"Whatever one’s judgment about the fall of Maduro, the United States—and President Trump in particular—remain answerable under international law for the violation of a member nation’s sovereignty,” he added, noting: “Democracy cannot be imposed from abroad.”

Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs urged both the US and Venezuela to “resolve disputes through peaceful means, and to exercise restraint to prevent escalation of conflict.”

Angel Tesorero

angel@khaleejtimes.com

Angel Tesorero is Assistant Editor and designated funny guy in the newsroom, but dead serious about writing on transport, labour migration, and environmental issues. He is a food lover too.