BAP National Co-Coordinator Austin Cole spoke at the February 10, 2026 Mass Meeting of Global Social Movements, convened by the Instituto Simón Bolívar and the Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs. Below is a transcript of his remarks.
Good morning, my name is Austin Cole and I am the national co-coordinator of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and coordinator of the BAP's Haiti/Americas team, which helped launch the collective campaign in 2023 “Our America, a Zone of Peace” together with more than a dozen organizations in our hemisphere to emphasize the need for social movements and grassroots groups in guaranteeing the zone of peace.
It is an honor to speak with you today, and thanks to the Simon Bolivar Institute, a fraternal embrace to the Venezuelan and Cuban people. I am speaking on behalf of the campaign's coordinating group and the No War Against Venezuela network. This initiative began with more than 35 organizations based in North America that launched a Week of Action in November to stop the war against Venezuela and defend the country's sovereignty. That week, more than 100 actions were taken in the United States and Canada. In recent weeks, we have held additional days of emergency mobilization following the invasion and kidnapping on January 3, as well as a Week of Resistance to disrupt the U.S. war machine from January 23 to 31, with more than 160 organizations. And on February 6, we supported the Global Day of Action to stop the genocide in Palestine and oppose all wars, with European unions.
This campaign is also connected to several local coalitions across the United States and Canada. We have consistently protested in the streets against US attacks on Venezuela and Cuba, organized informational talks in our communities, mass online rallies, strategy meetings, and much more. We have taken action against U.S. diplomatic entities and arms companies. We have published and distributed statements and testimonies from our comrades in Venezuela. Recently, organizers in New York have been continuously mobilizing at the Metropolitan Detention Center as part of the defense committee for Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, including writing letters and ensuring medical care for both.
At the Black Alliance for Peace, as an anti-imperialist organization in the tradition of radical Black peace, we have organized to support and defend the Bolivarian revolution since our founding in 2017, especially in connection with the Network of Afro-Venezuelan Organizations ARAAC. The defense of Venezuela's sovereignty is a key element of our Campaign for a Zone of Peace in Our America and the U.S./NATO Out of Our America Network. We believe that the regional integration of the peoples and movements of all of Our America and the development of a revolutionary and anti-imperialist consciousness throughout the hemisphere are necessary to realize true peace, self-determination, and dignity.
Venezuela's transition to socialism and anti-imperialist defense of sovereignty are examples for our social movements in North America.
We see that this model of transition in the Bolivarian process emphasizes the holistic and interconnected aspects of collective self-determination and popular sovereignty. We are familiar with the vision of the Golpe de Timón, we see the popular power of the Cumbes cimarrones, we are learning from the Unión Comunera, and we have observed from afar the most recent national meeting on communal economy. We see the communes as an example for us. We also understand that this is only possible if the solutions we offer attack the fundamental contradictions that cause this suffering and injustice in the first place, those of imperialism, capitalism, patriarchy, militarism, ecological degradation, and others.
We, the Afro-descendant and indigenous peoples within the United States of America, know the genocide of the empire. Therefore, one of our top priorities is to defend the sovereignty of Venezuela and Cuba, and to oppose the murderous actions of the United States in Our America, in Africa, in Palestine and Iran, and imperialist militarism in general. That is why, for example,
As we move forward together, initiatives such as the Francisco de Miranda Committee can unite us even more in these efforts. Looking ahead, we suggest some possible coordinated activities:
Coordinated continental mobilizations and campaigns here and there that share demands, propaganda, etc., in front of U.S. diplomatic facilities and U.S. corporations such as Citibank throughout the hemisphere. We are mobilizing for the public hearing of President Maduro and Cilia Flores on March 26.
We call on peoples and social movements to demand that FIFA move the World Cup out of the United States, and that both FIFA and the Olympic Committee ban the United States and Israel from organizing or participating in international sporting events.
Narrative support. Publication of materials in English or other languages and support for deeper connections with different sectors of society (students, religious leaders, workers, etc.) to combat misinformation and US propaganda in online spaces and the media as well as in our communities.
Direct exchange of research and information, especially grassroots analysis, reports, photos, and videos with movements involved in the Bolivarian process, so that people in our communities can hear directly from Venezuela.
Exchanges with communes and other social movements to bring people from North America to Venezuela to connect around possible alternatives through the Bolivarian process, bring perspectives and skills back to their communities, and participate in material solidarity efforts to strengthen collective self-defense and community self-sufficiency.
Political and social education based on the alternative of the Bolivarian revolution and the basis of the social movement; to establish direct connections between our community institutions, schools, churches, local groups, etc.
We continue our mobilizations with the demands:
Stop the war against Venezuela!
No to U.S. wars for regime change!
Free President Maduro and Cilia Flores!
Defend Venezuela's sovereignty and right to resist!
Stop the U.S. war on migrants!
Stop the genocide in Palestine and defeat Zionism!
End ICE (the immigration police)!
Return Guantanamo to Cuba and end colonialism in the Americas!
Together, we believe that the peoples of Our America can defeat the domination and violence of U.S. imperialism and resist to achieve our collective liberation. Count on us.
Until victory, always. We will win!
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