Wounds That Speak, Peoples That Resist (Speech for the conference of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform against NATO 22/06/25)

 Wounds That Speak, Peoples That Resist

by Ana Wijnen

I want to begin by dedicating these words to our fallen comrades; to the children who will never see their parents again, and to the parents who will not witness their children grow. To those who have lost everything—except their hope. To the brave individuals who risked their lives and depleted their resources to bring urgently needed humanitarian aid to Palestine. To the sovereign peoples who have defended their dignity, even when it cost them their well‑being or their very lives. No speech can fully contain human suffering… but we must never forget it.

On September 11 of last year, in Caracas, Venezuela, the International Antifascist Movement was founded. There, more than two thousand representatives from around 120 countries gathered, called by then‑newly‑elected President Nicolás Maduro Moros, in an act of dignity, sovereignty, and unity among peoples.

And I know this date—September 11—resonates deeply. For some, it evokes the fall of the Twin Towers and the attack on the Pentagon in 2001. But for others—primarily—it recalls the tragedy of Chile in 1973, when President Salvador Allende’s government was overthrown with blood and fire by forces serving imperialism. As Silvio Rodríguez said, “both events occurred because of a similar hatred.” A hatred that fears self‑determination, free thought, and the popular will.

I’m sure that the name Nicolás Maduro also resonates with many, and with it the prejudices embedded in official narratives that label him a dictator. Today, I take these two elements—the date and the name—to challenge those hatred‑filled discourses designed to divide us.

What happened in Chile in 1973 was not isolated. It was part of a continental strategy: Operation Condor, carried out under the command of imperialist intelligence forces. Torture, murder, disappearance. All of Latin America was silenced by terror.

Today, those same forces that once used tanks and coups now wield another weapon—silent but equally deadly: sanctions. Economic punishments imposed on countries that think and act for themselves, that refuse to bow. Want some figures? Russia faces over 28,500 sanctions; Iran, 2,888; Venezuela, 1,039; Cuba, 243—and the list goes on. Their aim? To asphyxiate, to weaken, to subjugate. They are not seeking dialogue—they seek surrender.

Meanwhile, they continue to list Cuba as a “terrorist state,” when we all know that for decades all Cuba has exported to the world are doctors, not missiles—brigades in white coats where others send troops. But after 9/11, that same imperial machinery sowed a visceral hatred towards Islam, planted carefully in the conscience of the West, justifying invasions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria… and today it repeats the same script with Iran. This very hate narrative, masquerading as justice, today conceals the genocide in Gaza—a de facto ethnic cleansing carried out before the world, broadcast live, without shame or accountability.

And it doesn’t end there. That hatred extends toward Russia, once again following the same playbook. And let us not forget NATO, which not only enables, but also actively participates in many of these aggressions, wrapping them in a rhetoric of defense and freedom—a cover for violent expansion.

Comrades, this machinery has names and faces. It is called the West. It is called the European Union. It is called the United States. It is called Israel. And it also appears under other names, with partners from the Middle and Far East that sustain this domination. The acronyms change, but the project remains the same. Let us call it clearly: this is the dirty game of global fascism.

Because it is easy to say what is right or wrong from a comfortable perch—built not on effort or dignity, but on the blood of others and centuries of plunder. It is easy to accuse the resister from a throne of privilege, without ever looking into the mirror, calling countries dictatorial while the accuser is merely a puppet of their own state.

But the oppressed peoples do not sleep. They rise. They recognize each other. They organize. They reclaim their roots—the teachings of their ancestors. They write their history with their own hands.

Our principles are not those of the fascism that hates and destroys. Our principles are respect, empathy, and mutual love. We add—we do not divide. Our voices unite into one, strong and clear. Our struggle is inspired by those who gave their lives for a fairer world: Patrice Lumumba, Ho Chi Minh, Thomas Sankara, Bartolina Sisa, Simón Bolívar, Che Guevara... and by the brave peoples of the Global South who know how to resist with dignity, choose their leaders, and defend their sovereignty, despite repression and censorship.

The founding of the International Antifascist Movement shows that utopia is not naive. It is a real goal, proof that we have learned: together, we are invincible. That the only way to confront fascism and imperialism is together. We do not want charity—we want solidarity. We do not want band‑aids, nor to be led like children. We want to walk autonomously, shoulder to shoulder.

In these dark times, neutrality is complicity. To be neutral is to be complicit in genocides, occupations, and torture. What is happening in Palestine, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Congo, Argentina, Cuba, and so many other devastated territories concerns us all.

¡Hasta la victoria siempre, venceremos!