Reflections from the Harriet Tubman Center: Standing with Venezuela

A report with John Parker and Dozthor Zurlent, moderated by Liz Antonio Hernandez, in Los Angeles

Feb. 2 — This past weekend, I attended a crucial report-back session featuring John Parker, a community and international solidarity activist and coordinator of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice in Los Angeles.

John recently returned from Venezuela, where he participated in an international anti-war solidarity conference in December 2025. During his time there, he met with representatives from local communes and grassroots organizers from around the world. He also had the remarkable opportunity to meet and speak directly with President Nicolás Maduro. The insights he brought back offered a perspective rarely heard in mainstream discourse.

The report focused on the recent U.S. invasion of Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores, who are married.

John was joined by Dozthor Zurlent, a Venezuelan professor, activist, and Strategic Analysis Director for the Simon Bolívar Institute, who previously served as an advisor to the late President Hugo Chávez. 

Together, they shared their experiences on the ground and spoke about how everyday Venezuelans are resisting despite enduring sanctions and oppressive actions, including the bombing and occupation by U.S. aggressors. Their firsthand accounts provided critical context about the resilience and determination of the Venezuelan people in the face of imperialist violence.

John and Dozthor drew important connections between the attacks on Venezuela and the long-standing U.S. sanctions on Cuba, situating these aggressions within a broader pattern of U.S. intervention aimed at undermining socialist movements and popular governments throughout Latin America and beyond.

They emphasized that these are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of U.S. intervention aimed at undermining socialist movements and popular governments throughout Latin America and beyond. The discussion made clear how international solidarity is essential to confronting these interconnected struggles.

The event closed on a powerful note, with John and Dozthor sharing concrete ways to join the campaign to free Maduro and Flores and support the Venezuelan people. They concluded with a video tribute honoring the 32 Cuban revolutionary fighters who were killed by U.S. forces as they defended the Bolivarian Revolution and the Venezuelan presidential residence. This moving tribute underscored the human cost of resistance and the profound internationalist commitment that continues to bind revolutionary movements across borders.