July 28, 2019

 

On July 23, 2019 in the Casa José Martí, in the historic center of the city of Caracas, capital of  the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the International Campaign for the Freedom of Simon Trinidad was launched.

The meeting, organized by the Association of Humanitarian Affairs “Patria es Solidaridad”, heard the passionate and committed intervention of Simon Trinidad’s lawyer, Mark Burton, who gave an wide-ranging account of his case, clarifying the legal aspects and explaining the political motivations behind the deprivation of liberty of the Colombian fighter,  a political prisoner of U.S. imperialism for over 15 years.

Burton also emphasized the wider importance of Simon Trinidad and the struggle for his freedom. He recounted Simon’s life history, and described his detention and condemnation as “an error and injustice of historic proportions.”

“Fighting for the freedom of our political prisoners is also fighting for their causes, which in Simon’s case means fighting for a Colombia at peace, a Colombia with social justice, and for the liberation of the Colombian people,” Burton said. He made blunt criticisms of those who out of cowardice or “laziness” say that in Simon’s case “there is nothing left to do.” He also pointed out that within the framework of the Havana peace process, hopes had been raised to win Simon’s freedom. However, due to some mistakes and the perfidy of the Colombian government under the presidency of Juan Manuel Santos, it was not possible to achieve the liberation of the fighter.

The lawyer also made an urgent appeal to those present to commit to solidarity with Simon and all of our political prisoners; “they are prisoners because they risked more than we did,” he exclaimed.

The meeting also included the screening of a short film about Simon, with testimonies by the fighter Jesús Santrich and the journalist Jorge Enrique Botero, among others. The moderator of the meeting was Fernanda Cautivo from “Patria es Solidaridad”.

Also visible at the meeting was solidarity with the Venezuelan internationalist fighter Ilich Ramírez, held  by French imperialism for 25 years. In the presence of Vladimir Ramírez, tireless militant for the freedom of his brother, through the organization BRISAS (Brigada Internacionalista de Solidaridad Activa), those attending expressed their strong commitment to the struggle for the repatriation and freedom of the Venezuelan internationalist.

Some of the organizations and personalities present were the following: Oscar Figuera, general secretary of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), Hanoi Rosas, general secretary of the Communist Youth of Venezuela (JCV), Pedro Eusse (PCV), Gabriel Aguirre, general secretary of the International Solidarity Committee (COSI), as well as other activist comrades of the PCV, Juan Contreras, leader of the Coordinadora Simón Bolívar, as well as other comrades of that organization, Rafael Uzcátegui, secretary general of the Partido Patria para Todos (PPT), Carlos Casanueva of the collective presidency of the Bolivarian Continental Movement (MCB), the organization “Class Struggle” and the National Front of Struggle, as well as “Resistance for Liberation” of Argentina, and  “Radio Rebelde”.

It is worth mentioning that this first meeting for the launching of the international campaign of solidarity with Simon Trinidad in Venezuela, took place i amidst of a new act of sabotage against the national electric system [of Venezuela], through an electromagnetic attack, which demonstrates the imperialist aggression against the Bolivarian Revolution and the malice of the United States and its allies against the international support given to Venezuela in the framework of the Summit of Non-Aligned Countries and on the eve of the Sao Paulo Forum to be held in Caracas. In spite of the difficulties of transportation and in other areas produced by the electric sabotage, the meeting, in the always consistent and supportive Casa José Martí, had a large number of people, which shows the capacity of resistance and the commitment to internationalism on the part of the Venezuelan people.

http://www.pacocol.org/index.php/noticias/solidaridad/