The following resolutions were passed at the AIM West conference held in San Francisco, Nov. 25-26, 2019. A report from the conference is available here, as well as a resolution adopted in support of Leonard Peltier.
AIM West Resolution for Bolivia
We, the people assembled in the American Indian Movement West conference in San Francisco, November 25 and 26, declare:
Whereas, Evo Morales is the first Indigenous president of Bolivia, a country that is overwhelmingly Indigenous; and
Whereas Evo Morales’ government led the process for a new Constitution that guarantees Indigenous rights, sovereignty and equality; and
Whereas Bolivia is now formally known as the Plurinational Republic of Bolivia; and
Whereas the U.S. government has worked since President Morales’ election in 2005 to overthrow President Evo Morales; and
Whereas the coup plotters are waging a vicious war of repression against the people of Bolivia, overturning the gains of the Indigenous majority and whole population, which include full literacy, a reduction in poverty, the guarantee of Indigenous equality and cultural and national rights, the nationalization of Bolivia’s resources; and
Whereas, the enormous wealth in gas and lithium are in danger of being privatized for the profits of big business;
We therefore demand:
That the U.S. government seize its aggression against Bolivia;
That Evo Morales and Álvaro García Linera be restored to the Presidency and Vice Presidency;
That the repression against the Indigenous immediately cease;
and further,
We declare our full solidarity and support to the heroic resistance of the Indigenous people against the fascist coup. While there is struggle, victory is assured.
AIM West Resolution for Venezuela and Cuba
We, the people assembled in the American Indian Movement West conference in San Francisco, November 25 and 26, declare:
Whereas, the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela began with the presidency of Hugo Chávez Frías in 1999; and
Whereas the 1999 Constitution guarantees Indigenous national rights, free healthcare, education, and housing for all;
Whereas the massive oil and other natural resources are now in the hands of the Venezuelan people and not the international oil companies;
Whereas the U.S. government is waging an economic and political war of attrition against the Venezuelan people, including the outright theft of Venezuela’s oil properties in the United States, its gold and money reserves in international banks;
Whereas the people are being deprived of food, medicine and other essentials of life through a severe blockade imposed by Washington;
Whereas Venezuela is being denied the sovereign right to trade with Cuba, and consequently the U.S. blockade of Cuba is being tightened by the Trump administration;
Whereas President Nicolás Maduro is the rightful president and Juan Guaidó is a puppet representative of U.S. imperialism;
Whereas we acknowledge with appreciation all the heating oil that The Venezuelan government delivered for free during harsh winter months to Native peoples and other communities in the United States;
Whereas Cuba has resisted U.S. unending aggression against the Revolution; Whereas Cuba continues to provide an example of a country and people truly free from the grips of U.S. imperialism;
Therefor be it resolved, that we demand:
An end to the U.S. blockade and aggression against Cuba and Venezuela;
We express our full solidarity with the more than 25 Indigenous nations in Venezuela, and the historic gains they have achieved;
We declare our full solidarity and support to the governments and people of Cuba and Venezuela;
We say U.S. Hands Off Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba and all of the Americas!
