PRESS RELEASE: People's Organizations from across the U.S. challenge Trump after his speech at the 81st UN General Assembly, denounce his threat to "annihilate" Iran and reasserting "American power"
For Immediate Release
Contact: Joell Manguerra, info@bayanusa.org, (503) 867-8380
Press Kit | Interviews available upon request
People's Organizations from across the U.S. challenge Trump after his speech at the 81st UN General Assembly, denounce his threat to "annihilate" Iran and reasserting "American power"
New York, USA — On September 22nd, over 150 individuals from various people's organizations marched from Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza to the Philippine Consulate to oppose the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where member states are convening throughout the week to present their positions on war, artificial intelligence, and climate change. Grassroots organizations and community members across the country have come to confront visiting member state officials and challenge the truth behind the UNGA's claims for climate, development, peace and security.
That morning, Trump took the stage in defense of the U.S.' war in Iran and to posture about the strength of the nation's military and its abilities as a mediator of global conflict. However, his claims were false and misleading, sharply contradicting the analyses of area experts on climate change, artificial intelligence, and the U.S.' diminishing weapons stockpiles amid the war with Iran.
Tino Valen, chairperson of the International League of Peoples' Struggle - US (ILPS-US) responded, "Trump's rhetoric is a sign of weakness and the deepening decay of U.S. imperialism. Iran has exposed the cracks in this system by successfully defending its sovereignty against U.S. aggression. We must stand with Iran against U.S. war and plunder!"
Antonio Arizaga of Frenteunido Inmigrantes Ecuatorianos (FUIE), an organization of Ecuadorian migrants, criticized Trump's budget cut to social services, like health care and welfare benefits in favor of war: "President Trump, tobar el diario de nuestra inquests para financier la guerra. Para mejorar la vida jamas para financier la muerte. (President Trump, you cannot take our tax dollars to fund wars. Money must be used to improve our lives, never to fund death.)" Arizaga's remarks denote the economic burden this places on migrant workers who shoulder the crisis both in the U.S. and in their homeland.
Trump has threatened to utilize tariffs to bend countries to its will, including a call to other nations to place economic sanctions against Iran. The rally denounced this form of collusion between nations and amplified the calls for international solidarity in the midst of wars of aggression.
Noting the growing presence of U.S. military throughout the world, Yerim Choi of Nodutdol said "The U.S. has been pressuring South Korea to send troops over to the Strait of Hormuz to aid its losing war on Iran. It's not the first time that South Korea would send troops on behalf of the U.S.: it happened in Vietnam, where South Korea sent over 320,000 troops, and again in 2003, when South Korea sent troops to Iraq. The masses of Koreans are fighting right now to not repeat this mistake again. We refuse to let Trump and U.S. imperialism dictate Korea's future, your future and our future."
Members of the newly launched Shut Down Pax Silica Campaign Network against Trump's AI initiative also assailed his attempt to rebrand artificial intelligence to "super intelligence" and called out the impacts of AI, "in the Philippines, indigenous people have already been displaced by the 4,000 acre project. People are also afraid of even more energy and water shortages. An added concern is the Philippines being turned into a war manufacturing hub by the U.S. to compete with China's production, particularly in the realm of AI and tech," said Nieves Delgado chair of BAYAN USA.
The mobilization concluded at the Philippine Consulate General New York, linking to the blatant collusion of the Philippine state with the dictates of U.S. presidents like Donald Trump. The organizations exposed the faces of officials who are at the helm of the economic and political crisis. They continued to call for international solidarity and to rise against the impacts of U.S. imperialism.
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