Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th Street,
Baltimore, MD 21218 Ph: 410-323-1607
CONTACT:
Max Obuszewski 410-323-1607 or 727-256-5789 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot
net or Janice Sevre-Duszynska
859-684-4247
Concerned Citizens Hope to Deliver a Letter to Secretary of State
Michael Pompeo Seeking a Meeting to Call Attention to the Trump
Administration’s Disastrous Foreign Policy
PRESS
RELEASE-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2019
WHO: The Baltimore Nonviolence Center and Baltimore
Peace Action have been protesting the Trump administration since its inception
in January 2017. Of great concern is the Trump Administration’s foreign
policy which has been disastrous for so many peoples and countries around the
world.
WHAT: A group of peace and justice advocates
have written a letter to request a meeting with Secretary of State Michael
Pompeo or a high-level representative. At the meeting, it will be pointed
out that the U.S. is engaging in numerous wars, most notably in Yemen.
Also that the military budget is bankrupting the government. The War on
Terror has failed miserably. Even allies of the United States have
criticized this abhorrent foreign policy of which Pompeo is a principal
architect. If Pompeo would meet and listen to these advocates, there
would be a radical change in U.S. foreign policy.
Unfortunately, he has supported
waterboarding and other forms of torture. He criticized the Obama administration
for closing "black sites" - secret prisons used to interrogate
suspects overseas - and the requirement for interrogators to adhere to
anti-torture laws. He has resisted ending US military support for the Saudi-led
war on the people of Yemen. In Yemen, US interrogators have questioned
detainees in secret prisons run by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and
UAE-backed Yemeni forces where torture is widespread. He is also a proponent of
denying due process to prisoners languishing in Guantanamo.
Another urgent concern is that Pompeo,
John Bolton and Elliott Abrams are involved in trying to overthrow the
government in Venezuela. And at the height of hypocrisy, they have insulted the
citizens of Venezuela by declaring Juan Guaido as the interim president. Venezuela
does not represent a threat to the United States. Instead of trying to
destabilize Venezuela, the US should engage in dialogue with the Maduro
government to assist the country in these difficult times.
This list of disastrous
foreign policy decisions is endless. And thus the citizen activists will
be persistent in trying to obtain a meeting with a State Department official
who will agree to a radical change in policy.
WHEN: Monday, March 31, 2018 at 12:30 PM
WHY: The citizen
activists felt they have to speak out to end the wars, the human rights abuses,
the destruction of the environment and the trampling of the constitution. They believe that there must
be a significant change from the current foreign policy morass.
Continuing the current policy will only cause more death, destruction,
devastation and an immense drain of tax dollars. It is essential to
severely cut military spending, to stop the threats to other countries, to
close a majority of the foreign bases, including Guantanamo, to not prop up
dictators, to show respect for human rights, to end arm sales to dictatorial regimes,
and to engage in dialogue not belligerence. Real security can only happen
when tax dollars are reallocated from military spending towards housing,
education, environmental regulations, health services, the infrastructure and
programs aimed at lifting people out of poverty.
Should the activists be
arrested during their attempt to arrange a meeting with the Secretary of State,
they will look forward to their day in court. During a trial, they would
raise these many issues of concern which are contained in the letter to
Pompeo. The letter is available upon request.
# # #
"The
master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought
the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while
the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially
their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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