Last night at the SOTU, Democrats gave a standing ovation to Juan Guaidó, the fake “interim president” hand-picked for the Trump administration’s coup attempt in Venezuela. Outrageous! Tell the Dems that regime change doesn’t work! Overseas supporters can sign our petition here!

Dear John,

Last night at Trump’s State of the Union address, Democrats gave a standing ovation to one of his worst foreign policy blunders: the regime change attempt to place Juan Guaidó into the position of “interim president” of Venezuela. Instead of standing up against another US coup attempt, sanctions that have killed at least 40,000 people, and military threats that could destabilize the entire Latin American region, many Democrats stood up to cheer Trump on.

We are both shocked and outraged that the Democrats, including Speaker Pelosi, are cheering Trump’s foreign policy debacle. Coups and regime change cause chaos, suffering, and death, as happened in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Bolivia—to name a few..

Will you join me in telling the Dems that you, too, are outraged that so many of them applauded Trump and Guaidó last night? Pressure them to tweet or issue statements denouncing Trump and Guaidó’s coup attempt and asking for dialogue between all the parties. We will track which Democratic members of Congress did or did not join Pelosi’s cheering last night and which Senators and Reps respond to our call with a statement or a tweet. You can thank those who didn’t cheer and issued statements or tweets.

The background: In January 2019, Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself president of Venezuela following a phone call with Vice President Pence. With the Trump administration’s support, he then attempted a military insurrection, was photographed with members of a Colombian drug cartel, asked for US sanctions on Venezuela to be increased, and said he might call for U.S. marines to invade the country (as if he had the power to do this!). When he lost his reelection bid in January 2020 to lead the legislature, he created a parallel fake parliament.

Venezuela is facing a genuine political and economic crisis, but Trump’s failed coup and policies—particularly the cruel sanctions that harm ordinary Venezuelans—are making everything worse, including making it harder to resolve the crisis through dialogue.

Join me in demanding that the Democrats condemn Trump and Guaidó’s failed coup. This would be a first step for them to ensure that such regime change interventions do not continue. We will track which congressional Democrats take this action and thank them.

CODEPINK spent much of 2019 condemning and doing everything within our power to stop the Trump administration’s interventions in Latin America, including denouncing the cruelty of the sanctions on Venezuela and connecting with social justice movements there working to make their country a better place. Shame on the Democrats who cheered Guiadó last night!

Towards peace and stability in Venezuela,
Leonardo, Ann, Ariel, Asia, Ayanni, Carley, Caty, Cody, Emily, Jodie, Makena, Medea, Michelle, Nancy, Paki, Teri, and Tighe