No more Pinochets in Latin America

On the 35th anniversary of the military overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973, which had the overt support of the United States, the presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela asked the US ambassadors accredited to their countries to leave.

They both believe they have faced the possibility of imminent coups in which they accuse the United States' administration of being involved.

A third country, Paraguay, announced ten days previously that they had detected a conspiracy involving military officers and opposition politicians.

Latin America now faces its most serious crisis since the re-introduction of democracy at the end of the 20th century.

The plot against democracy in Venezuela centred on a conspiracy, revealed in telephone conversations between senior military officers broadcast on national television, to assassinate the democratically elected head of state, President Chavez.

In Bolivia, the separatist governors of the five eastern regions, in close touch with the US embassy in La Paz, have begun a campaign of violence and economic sabotage designed to create the conditions for a coup.

These events demonstrate unequivocally who defends democracy and who threatens it in Latin America today.

We are appalled by the failure of much of the international media to provide accurate and proportionate coverage of these events.

We call upon democrats throughout the world to rally to defend democracy, social progress and national independence in Latin America and to condemn these conspiracies against democracy and human rights.

We call upon the European Union and European governments to adopt a policy independent of the Bush administration in the US and unequivocally condemn all attempts to overthrow democratically elected governments in Latin America.

Richard Gott
Ken Livingstone
John Pilger
Hugh O'Shaughnessy
Colin Burgon MP
Tony Benn
Diane Abbott MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Ian Gibson MP
Colin Challen MP
Jim Devine MP
Rob Marris MP
Michael Connarty MP
Mark Fisher MP
David Taylor MP
Ian Davidson MP
Baroness Gibson
Chris McLaughlin, Editor Tribune
Alexander Ulrich MP, Germany
Jörn Wunderlich MP, Germany
Heike Hänsel MP, Germany
Kornelia Möller MP, Germany
Elke Reinke MP, Germany
Inge Höger MP¸Germany,
Helmut Scholz, Die Linke
Ilda Figueiredo MEP, Portugal
Pedro Guerreiro MEP, Portugal
Manuel Talens, Spain
Pascual Serrano, Spain
Isaac Rosa, Spain
Carlos Tena:, Spain