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South African activists and Al Jama-ah have launched the #BringThemBack campaign at Parliament, calling for the release of Venezuela’s leadership and condemning foreign intervention.
By SAYED RIDHWAAN MOHAMED
In a high-stakes display of international solidarity, a significant diplomatic engagement was hosted by Al Jama-ah at the South African Parliament on Thursday, March 5, to address the unfolding crisis in Venezuela. Led by Honourable Ganief Hendricks, President of Al Jama-ah and Deputy Minister of Social Development, the meeting marked the official launch of the #BringThemBack campaign.
The engagement brought together civil society leaders, activists, and Al Jama-ah members to meet with His Excellency Carlos Feo Acevedo, the Venezuelan Ambassador to South Africa. The primary agenda: responding to the January 3 US military operation, known as ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’, which resulted in the capture and removal of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Venezuelan soil.
A sovereignty in shards
Ambassador Acevedo delivered a sobering account of the intervention, which he characterised as a ‘direct military kidnapping’. According to the Ambassador, the operation claimed over 100 lives and involved the targeted bombing of Venezuelan infrastructure. He argued that the detention of a sitting head of state and a member of parliament constitutes a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the centuries-old principles of diplomatic immunity.
‘What we are witnessing is the brazen disregard for international law by a superpower that openly admits it no longer believes in the United Nations,’ Acevedo stated, referring to recent rhetoric from the US administration.
The Ambassador contextualised the current crisis within the historical framework of the Monroe Doctrine, describing it as a ‘supremacist, colonialist approach’ that treats the Western Hemisphere as a private backyard for US resource extraction.
Solidarity with a fellow parliamentarian
A central pillar of the engagement was the demand for the release of Cilia Flores. Al Jama-ah underscored that Flores is not merely the wife of the President but a high-ranking official in her own right – a sitting member of Venezuela’s National Assembly. Honourable Ganief Hendricks emphasised that Al Jama-ah will ‘rally behind to free another parliamentarian across the world’.
Oil, sanctions, and strategic interests
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The discussion also touched upon the role of Venezuela’s vast natural resources. As the holder of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela has long been a focal point of geopolitical tension. Acevedo noted that the US intervention occurred precisely as Venezuela was beginning to demonstrate economic resilience against long-standing sanctions.
The meeting highlighted a bitter irony: the US had previously engaged in negotiations to lift sanctions for cooperative oil development due to Venezuela’s geographic proximity to American ports. Instead of continued diplomacy, the Ambassador alleged that the US opted for ‘forcible seizure’ to eliminate leaders who refused to succumb to total economic subjugation.
The #BringThemBack movement
The #BringThemBack campaign aims to mobilise South African and global public opinion against what supporters call ‘extrajudicial state kidnapping’. The campaign’s strategy includes:
Community engagement: Educational initiatives to explain the history of the Bolivarian Revolution to South Africans.
Legislative advocacy: Lobbying provincial and national government structures to maintain a principled stance against foreign intervention and the detention of foreign lawmakers.
International pressure: Aligning with global movements to demand the immediate release of the Maduros.
Following the engagement hosted at Parliament, the Cape Town Ulama Board issued a stinging rebuke of the US actions. In an official statement, the Board condemned the ‘capture of Venezuela’s President’ as a dangerous escalation of imperialist aggression.
‘We stand firmly against apartheid colonialism and systemic oppression in all its global manifestations,’ the Board stated. They called on South Africans to view the #BringThemBack campaign not just as a Venezuelan struggle but as a vital defence of global justice and the right of sovereign nations to self-determination.
For Al Jama-ah, the campaign is a natural extension of its ‘liberation solidarity’ philosophy. By hosting these engagements, the party seeks to reinforce South Africa’s role as a moral compass in a world where ‘might is right’ increasingly threatens the international rules-based order.
As the legal battle moves into the US federal courts, the #BringThemBackCampaign is expected to host a series of public and diplomatic petitions across South Africa to keep the pressure on the international community.
