(Photo: Yury Weky.)
The Communist Youth of Venezuela building in Caracas was firebombed by vandals, no doubt fascist in nature, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Note the streaks of soot around the door and window of the building. Here’s the story:
The Central Excecutive Commission of the Central Council of the Communist Youth of Venezuela (JCV) denounced a terrorist attack in the early morning hours of Tuesday on their head office in El Paraíso, Caracas.
In a communiqué, the JCV indicated that the installations were attacked by incendiary artefacts launched simultaneously from various points, affecting the front of the building, the meeting room, and constituting an attempt on the lives of members of the brigade, who were working at that hour on a propaganda offensive.
The communiqué affirmed that “this incident is part of the escalation of violence imposed by fascism since February of this year and executed by mercenaries and paramilitary groups in the service of the pro-imperialist far right.
“Its objective is none other than to infuse terror, attempting to demobilize the combative revolutionary student movement of Venezuela,” says the communiqué, which calls for militancy in “responding with the organization, mystique and discipline which characterize our lines.”
The vice-president for Agitation, Propaganda and Communication of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Ernesto Villegas, expressed on behalf of president Nicolás Maduro and the political organization he represents, his solidarity with the political bureau of the Communist Party of Venezuela and the JCV following the violent events.
On his Twitter account @VillegasPoljak, he stated that the message of support is directed especially “to the young comrades of the JCV, victims of terrorist practices of a right-wing profoundly anticommunist and antinational.”
Villegas also stated that “the president has ordered an exhaustive investigation” to find those responsible for the attack. “We are certain that this act is one more in a long list of historic aggressions by fascism against the Venezuelan communists and could not have existed without the commitment to revolutionary ideas and practices,” he added.
“We have offered support for the prompt rehabilitation of the burned building, which serves as the national directorate of the JCV,” said Villegas.
He added that thanks to the opportune intervention of the Firefighters’ Corps of the Capital District, it was possible to save the lives of the five young Communists and two other persons, one 48 and the other 80 years old, who were in the building.
The fire started on the first of the two storeys of the building, around 3:00 a.m., leaving traces of violent combustion on the building’s front, says Villegas. “The flames destroyed a small stencil-type printing press. There are no signs of defects in the electrical system.”
“Once more they call for cowardly attacks against our young people, such as what occurred with the abominable crime against our comrade Robert Serra,” Villegas emphasized.
Translation mine.
So we can see that here again, the pattern of fascist violence repeats itself. While most of the assaults have been against members of the United Socialist Party (PSUV), the Communist Party (PCV) has also been singled out in this instance because, while it didn’t opt to join the PSUV when it was formed, it tends to vote along the same lines on issues of importance, and there is strong solidarity between the two separate entities.
What makes this attack truly cowardly is the fact that it was waged against young people. Like the murder of 27-year-old Robert Serra, the PSUV’s youngest parliamentary deputy, and one of its most energetic, charismatic and beloved figures. It seems pretty clear that this attack was meant not only to kill, but also to demoralize and demobilize the young Communists. Luckily, no one died, and if anything, this attack will only serve to steel their spines against the attackers…whoever they turn out to be. The old-order antisocialists and anticommunists are losing, and they know it; hence their desperate and ugly tactics.
¡No pasarán!
