00:00Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the American consulate in Johannesburg on Saturday to protest the U.S. intervention in Venezuela and capture a former president, Nicolas Maduro.
00:14The protests were led by members of the South African Communist Party and a number of trade unions.
00:21We delivered this memorandum following a lawful and very peaceful protest march to the United States Consulate in Central.
00:32The purpose of this memorandum is to formally condemn the illegal U.S. military invasion of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
00:43Demand the immediate release of President Nicolas Maduro and Comrade Celia Flores.
00:51We are saying that the international rule of law, the human rights must be respected.
00:56We are saying that oil can be used to promote peace in the world, not the war.
01:01That's why we are here to pledge solidarity and say to the people of Venezuela we are with them.
01:07And we are going to continue to do all we can up until they are liberated.
01:12President Cyril Ramaphosa and his African National Congress Party have also denounced U.S. actions and called for Maduro's immediate release.
01:22On behalf of the African National Congress, we really want to salute workers under the leadership of NUMSA
01:32for uniting all of us under one banner of international solidarity, a stand against imperialist aggression, as well as the dictatorship of one man who wants to break the sovereignty of each and every nation.
01:52South Africa has had tense relations with the U.S. since President Trump returned to power.
01:59He's accused Pretoria of allowing a so-called genocide against the country's white community
02:05and boycotted November's G20 meeting in Johannesburg.
