By Sara Flounders and Tom Burke

New York City

This report is written by Sara Flounders, a leading member of Workers World Party, and Tom Burke, a leading member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

A packed Assembly Hall at the prestigious Riverside Church in Manhattan was draped in Venezuelan colors and flags of resistance on Thursday, September 25.

The exciting solidarity event with Venezuela resounded with drumming and chants throughout the evening. A well-organized security ensured that the meeting went forth without disruption or interference.

The September 25 event was a determined public meeting of forces who refuse to be silent in the face of President Trump’s violent military attacks on Venezuela and threatened repression of left forces in the U.S.

The solidarity meeting with the Venezuelan delegation to the United Nations General Assembly High Level Session was the initiative of Dozthor Zurlent of the Simon Bolivar Institute and William Camacaro of Bolivarian Circle in New York. 

The event was co-chaired by: Gail Walker, former, long-time Director of IFCO Pastors for Peace; Sara Flounders, who helps coordinate United National Antiwar Coalition and is a contributing editor of Workers World News; and Tom Burke with the Anti War Action Network and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Leaders from antiwar and solidarity groups from across the U.S. stood together on stage and expressed solidarity greetings to the Cuban and Venezuelan diplomats in the room. They spoke about their organizing in their communities, on the streets and on college campuses to oppose President Trump’s attacks on Venezuela and its fishing boats. They spoke against the U.S. blockade of Cuba and Venezuela and opposed the ongoing U.S. harassment of Nicaragua.

Again and again they raised solidarity with the resistance in Palestine, a struggle that has now taken root in the working class, which even in the center of world imperialism and throughout Europe is challenging the imperialist world order.

The defiant crowd came together in less than a week to hear Yvan Gil, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister. Gil had spoken earlier at the U.N. to defend Venezuela against Trump’s lies and U.S. Navy attacks. These activists gathered despite countless other events during the packed U.N. Week in New York City.

Venezuela’s foreign minister speaks

At the Riverside Church, Foreign Minister Gil said: “We desire peace between Venezuela and the U.S. We think the hopes and desires of people in the U.S. are similar to what Venezuelans want, not war and aggression.”

Gil continued, “We want countries like Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua to be allowed to take our own path of development, free from U.S. intervention.”

Gil saw the lies and distortions of Trump as part of a campaign by the U.S. to distract from its own problems and blame others. Trump is threatening war, because he cannot control Venezuela and its independent path of development. There are wealthy elites in the U.S. who want Venezuela’s oil, gold and other resources.

When the Honorable Yvan Gil and the Venezuelan delegation entered the hall there was great excitement. The program was interrupted to announce the foreign minister’s arrival directly from the U.N., where his important work of attempting to stop U.S. attacks was underway. People applauded and cheered.

At the front of the hall, the Venezuelan delegates stood together with the Cubans, sharing warm embraces and handshakes before restarting the program. Foreign Minister Gil and the Venezuelan mission were interested to hear the antiwar and solidarity activists who described their opposition to U.S. wars and intervention.

After the solidarity greetings, Ana Teresita Gonzalez, the Director General of Consular Affairs, spoke for the Cuban Mission at the U.N. She explained how the White House was attempting to constrict Cuba even more with the U.S. blockade. She spoke to the resilience of the Cuban people in overcoming any difficulty imposed by the U.S. or defeating any attacks on the Cuban people. She defended the Cuban revolution and explained their path forward, expressing solidarity with those in the room and with Palestine people.

She was followed by a special guest speaker, Husam Marajda of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). Marajda set the tone for the night: “With the support of the people in this room and the people of the world, the Palestinian people will be victorious! We will finally defeat Zionism and apartheid and colonialism! We will free Palestine, from the river to the sea!”

Marajda ended forcefully: “USPCN and the Palestinian people stand in unconditional solidarity with all the progressive movements and struggles, especially in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. Your struggle, progress and revolutions show us that it is possible to build a world that is just, fair, equitable, humane and liberatory. We have a world to win!”

Blanca Eekhout of Simón Bolívar Institute

He was followed by the esteemed Venezuelan leader Blanca Eekhout, president of the Simón Bolívar Institute for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples.

Eekhout explained: “The corporate elites are not representing the interests of the people of the United States. We know that those elites want to see a war in the Caribbean. They launched missiles against boats where only two or three people were in them — 17 people killed by missiles.

“They were traveling in small boats that could not make it to the United States. They did not have the capacity or oil to get there. They could not transit drugs in such small boats to be a threat, nor did they carry weapons. These people were assassinated without a trial.”

Eekhout continued about Trump using the U.S. Navy to threaten Venezuela: “In 2014, we assumed the mantle as a territory of peace. In the middle of the diversity and many contradictions and differences, we took on the willingness to be a region of peace. But today there are nuclear submarines, warships, military airplanes, threats of troops and assassinations of fishermen by missiles.”

Finally, Eekhout explained: “The argument that falls apart is that Venezuela is a drug trafficking country. We have said today at the U.N. Session what everybody knows: In the report of the United Nations of this year 2025, and for over a decade, the U.N. reports Venezuela is a country that has zero acres of crops of drugs. There is not one acre that is dedicated.”

More than twenty groups stood on stage together, reviving a more inclusive approach, promoting a unified front in the antiwar movement with their solidarity greetings. They included: Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle NYC, Anti-War Action Network, Arm The Dollz, Bayan, Black Is Back Coalition, Bronx Antiwar, Citizen Revolution of Ecuador, Code Pink, Cuba Sí, December 12 Movement, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Committee – NYC, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Jazz Against Genocide, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, SanctionsKill Campaign, Struggle la Lucha for Socialism, The Peoples Forum, United National Antiwar Coalition, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, Venceremos Brigade, Venezuela Solidarity Network, U.S. Peace Council and Workers World Party.

View Blanca Eekhout’s speech at the event via Telesur at youtu.be/kqBTwAwSKvY.