Remarks given by Melinda Butterfield, Struggle-La Lucha co-editor, at the “No to NATO, War and Racism” protest in the Bronx, New York, on Oct. 15.
By Melinda Butterfield
This war didn’t start last February, when Russia intervened. It started with a coup against the elected Ukrainian government, sponsored by the United States, in 2014. We know how that works – we’ve seen it many times in Latin America and other places around the world. The people in the eastern part of Ukraine said “No – we don’t want to live under a regime that’s filled with fascists. We don’t want to live under a regime that answers to Washington and NATO.”
When we talk about the struggle here, we use the slogan, “When people’s rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.” When trans rights, Black people’s rights, abortion rights, immigrant rights are under attack, we say: Stand up and fight back. In Donbass, they stood up and fought back!
