COIMBATORE: Members of political parties and organisations, including CPI, CPM and CPI (ML), All India Lawyers Union (AILU), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), on Tuesday held a protest against the US for the illegal arrest of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The protesters alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not condemned the act of the US and had not made a firm stand.The members of SFI and DYFI demanded the release of Maduro. Speaking at the protest held near the district collectorate, DYFI district secretary M Dinesh Raja said, “The allegations against Maduro were purely fabricated. The US has been targeting Venezuela for its oil, availability of minerals, resources for manufacturing mobile phones and the abundance of gold mines. The US is aiming to initiate a third world war through its actions.”The CPI, CPM and CPI (ML) jointly held a protest near Ukkadam, where more than 200 people participated in this protest.CPI state treasurer M Arumugam said, “The United States has made false accusations against that country, illegally entered its territory, launched an attack, and arrested the country’s president and his wife. This is an unacceptable act of aggression. The United States has engaged in this heinous act to plunder Venezuela’s oil reserves and natural resources. Many nations have strongly condemned this. India should condemn this and stand with the people of Venezuela.”A section of lawyers held a protest in front of the Combined Court Complex here, condemning the Union government for failing to condemn the attack against Venezuela. While raising slogans against the US, one of the protesting lawyers said, “The United States has violated international laws. The situation faced by Venezuela could happen to countries like India tomorrow. The Indian government should immediately condemn this.”
