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ANALYSIS: Maduro-friendly Chicago union rips Venezuela action; Minneapolis teachers demand ICE leave state after ‘murder’ of activist
The Chicago Teachers Union wasted nary a second following the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro last weekend, springing into action with a “No War on Venezuela — Stop the Bombings!” protest.
It literally took place less than 24 hours after the U.S. military action. And here’s a shocker: It was co-sponsored by the local Students for Justice in Palestine, the Chicago Cuba Coalition, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the Palestinian Feminist Collective(!!), among others.
Oddly enough, the union, which represents over 25,000 educators and other staff, supported a drug-running dictator that even the last (progressive) administration wanted gone … yet a couple of months prior there it was yammering about “No Kings!”
And yes — they literally supported Maduro. Back in 2019 some of the union’s members traveled to Venezuela to “learn what they could from [its] Bolivarian Revolution, exchange views on effective education,” and “show solidarity with the students, teachers and social movements.”
They detailed their journey in a blog titled Radical Educator Collective.
CTU Area Vice President Sarah Chambers had proclaimed “Through major economic hardships [President] Maduro never closed a single public school or a single health clinic,” and noted then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel had shuttered “50 public schools and several mental health clinics” in just one year.
This was the same person who not even two years later demanded — from her poolside vacation spot in Puerto Rico — that Chicago keep its schools closed due to COVID.
Another member of the Venezuelan entourage, CTU math teacher Valeria Vargas, lauded the alleged 75 percent of Venezuela’s budget that went to “social programs” while ripping the (alleged) “50% of our budget [that] goes to war.”
MORE: CTU head: ‘Conservatives don’t even want black children to be able to read’
Then-Venezuelan Director of International Affairs Vladimir Castillo told the educators “Our world of justice and love in Venezuela includes 2.6 million families receiving housing units for free or for a symbolic price.” He added so-called “dignified housing” was a “right” in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, test scores in the Windy City’s public schools continue to be beyond dismal.
Up in Minneapolis, the city’s Federation of Educators put out a statement Wednesday calling the shooting of anti-ICE activist Renee Good a “murder” and ICE’s presence in the area an “occupation”:
The union said it “will not tolerate” ICE from “inhibiting” students’ attendance at school and “educators from doing their job” (are they doing their jobs anyway?). What’s more, yesterday it reiterated anti-ICE activist Good was “murdered” and scheduled a what-they-hope is a “kid-friendly” press conference as speakers will “make an effort not to share graphic details”:
Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Educational Support Professionals Chapter President Catina Taylor repeated the “murder” narrative during an earlier press conference, and demanded ICE leave not only the city, but the entire state.
The city school district canceled classes for the remainder of this past week as a “precautionary safety measure,” and even gave students the option of remote learning through February 12.
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