# Stop the Siege and Rozpor - speech, 8. 1. Maybe you're asking, why are we standing here today in the freezing cold because of Venezuela that's so far away? The demonstrations against the attack on Venezuela have encounter reactions on social media this week, asking how dare we to speak on behalf of Venezuela if we don't live there nor do we come from there. This criticism is mistaken. We all live in one system. We can call it colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism or something else. The key is that the USA are trying to convince us right now, either using words or guns, that they're the only ones who can decide how everyone else lives their lives. We've gathered here not because we're Venezuelans but because this is an attack of our Western system against people who are like us. Dozens of Venezuelans who lived in their country are now dead because they supposedly violated American laws. Two have been kidnapped and are facing court based on laws that have no power whatsoever over them. And from frequent experience in Latin America and elsewhere, we know very well that invasion or similar intervention never bring any good. Many of you may have come to our protest against the Gaza genocide on 27. November. Among other things, we reminded that we were also gathering for Venezuela, which was another one in a row of Global South countries threatened by an attack by USA and their allies. Around that time, the Fiala government was on its way out, being replaced by the Babiš government, which is supposed to be its polar opposite. What has really changed, though? The violation of international law and national sovereignty doesn't upset any of them. Petr Pavel hasn't made a statement. Petr Fiala, Zdeněk Hřib and Vít Rakušan, the alleged guardians of genuine liberalism and freedom, are all rejoicing that Venezuela will have its democracy, and that the ends justify the means. Andrej Babiš is rejoicing with them. The Euro-skeptical Petr Macinka is carefully monitoring the situation in alignment with the top heads of the EU, but they won't do anything. Danuše Nerudová is schooling us that the time of colonialism has passed, and mostly she's interested how this will affect Fico. Our politicians aren't the only ones who appreciate the act that they should have condemned by their own declared values. The public television broadcaster, Česká televize, keeps repeating the same old mantra over the past months: "the American president Donald Trump and the authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro." This is while the television has been labeling Putin for years as the "Russian leader". I can only wonder how the actions of Putin in Ukraine and of Trump in Venezuela are any different. Despite that, there's a double standard. We can call maduro a president, and authoritarian, a socialist or a citizen of Venezuela. It truly and honestly doesn't matter. In any case, he's been kidnapped and judged by laws that only apply in the USA. This initially absurd situation came to be only because the US elites decided that Maduro is an obstacle to their interests in the natural resources of Venezuela. The natural resources that belong only to the Venezuelan people and nobody else. We're told that this is allowed since Maduro's government isn't legitimate. You know, legitimacy is a funny thing that our societies apply in a selective way. In most surveys, we see that more US citizens reject Trump than the number that support him. Our prime minister Fiala scored globally as one of the least popular prime ministers, being approved by around 19% of people. UK's Starmer and France's Macron aren't much different. Andrej Babiš is trusted by around 28% of respondents. Regardless, all of them stay in power until the end of their mandates. This si a privilege of white politicians in Europe and USA. In Global South countries, it doesn't matter how popular you are, you're still at risk of being eliminated if you stand against the colonial order. Salvador Allende, the former socialist president of Chile, won in democratic elections, and three years later, he was still overthrown and killed by the fascist coup of the infamous general Pinochet with US support because Allende endangered their economic interests. Democracy is supposed to be brought to Venezuela by Trump, who has been suggesting for some time that he'd liek to continue as president even though the constitution doesn't allow it anymore. Maybe he won't even need the elections. Remember his "stop the count" slogan in 2020 when too many votes started coming in Detroit. When that didn't help, his supporters called the elections rigged and later stormed the Congress, the seat of US democracy. Did anyone at the time discuss an intervention to save US democracy? back to Venezuela, though. Trump's advisor Stephen Miller openly says now: "We're running Venezuela. We decide who they can trade with, and our army makes sure of that. Venezuela needs our permission to run their economy. We're a superpower and the world is ruled by force." Is this the democracy that they've brought? The rule of unelected bureaucrats from a country across the Gulf of Mexico? In the USA, a gestapo called ICE is kidnapping people from the street due to the color of their skin. Suspected immigrants from Latin America are being taken to facilities that are practically identical to concentration camps. Everything that we've been told to fear from Russia and China is now being realized by the USA. Is it a democracy when your country is ruled through force by a foreign empire? Is it prosperity when your country can't trade with its resources without permission? Is it a future for Latin America when the penalty for Hispanic origin might be death? Many of you care about what's happening to regular people in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Ukraine and other countries that suffer under colonial violence. In order for all people of the Global South (and even us here) to be able to determine their own lives, to live in peace and security, one key thing in necessary. We cannot live in the shadow of one imperial superpower that thinks it can do whatever it wants. We have to take that power from them. And we can't allow any other imperial power to assume the same position afterwards. In Global South countries, there are masses of people who organize and resist imperialism, against colonialism and against their corrupt government. People in these countries are currently making history by struggling against empires. We have to meet them and accommodate them, listen to them, learn how they organize and how they see the world. The least you can do is stop electing the same parties who keep maintaining the current order of things. Our NATO membership, us busying US weapons and our political subservience help maintain USA at the top of the food chain. All Czech governments up to now, whether right-wing or left-wing, have contributed to the position where the USA can do whatever they want. It was under the government of Social Democracy when we joined NATO in 1999. It was ODS that only sat back and watched the economic crime that was the financial crime of 2008. It was Piráti who stood idly by while Israel was massacring Palestinians by the thousands, and what's more, they loudly proclaimed our loyalty to the zionist project from government seats. And it was Zelení who happily joined a coalition with Piráti despite the disagreement of a large portion of their supporters. This is our political spectrum. This is our left, this is our free-thinking right, these are our hip progressive parties. In elections, we're allowed to choose between the good-mannered Fiala and Bartoš, or the bad-mannered Babiš and Okamura. Some parties promise us a little more human rights or a little more welfare state. Ten years ago here in Brno, the Žít Brno movement won with the slogan "I want more." But nothing more came, even if everybody wanted it. Liberal politics like Žít Brno then, or Piráti, STAN a other today, never give us anything more, only the continuation of the arrogant power that steals, kidnaps and murders, just as we're watching now. No use to even talk of the conservatives and fascists, but at least they don't lie about their goals. Let's dare to ask for what we want. Let's dare to stand against the racist colonial system, side by side with people from the Global South. If you hate what's happening in Venezuela, in palestine and elsewhere, let's do it right. Let's organize against the root causes of this. And let's stop supporting those who keep all of that in motion. Standing on the right side of history isn't shameful. It's an honor and it's our moral duty. Free Venezuela! Free Palestine! Freedom to all oppressed people!