200 years after defeating Spanish colonialists, Venezuelans march against US embargo

The Grayzone reports from Caracas, where thousands of Venezuelans marched to protest against the crippling US blockade — and to symbolically celebrate the 200th anniversary of Simón Bolívar’s victory over Spanish colonialists at the Battle of Boyacá.

By Ben Norton

On August 7, thousands of Venezuelans demonstrated in Caracas to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Boyacá.

In this historic battle, General Simón Bolívar — the great liberator of Latin America — defeated the Spanish colonialists who controlled the region. This was a crucial victory in Bolívar’s mission to construct an independent post-colonial republic uniting numerous nations in the northern part of South America.

The anniversary was especially symbolic because it came just two days after the Donald Trump administration imposed a total economic embargo on Venezuela.

At the demonstration, Venezuelans protested against the crippling US embargo of their country — and said that, just as two centuries ago they struggled for liberation from the Spanish empire, they are now trying to free themselves from the suffocating oppression of the US empire.

Ben Norton reports: