Argentinian Politician Calls for ‘Denouncing an International Genocide’ in Syria

Juan Carlos Giordano at the Buenos Aires City Council on December 17, 2016. Source: Giordano Twitter account.

Syrian activists and supporters have been sharing a video of Juan Carlos Giordano, the Argentinian MP and leader of the ‘Izquierda Socialista‘ (Socialist Left) party, itself a member of the Trotskyist ‘Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores’ (Workers’ Left Front) coalition, giving a powerful speech on the situation in Aleppo at the Buenos Aires City Council.

The speech was made as the fall of Aleppo entered its final stage with Assad regime forces and pro-regime sectarian militias, backed by Russian air power, defeating the remaining rebel forces in the city. This was accompanied by the mass evacuation of tens of thousands of East Aleppo residents to the relative safety of rebel-held countryside.

On Twitter, Giordano said:

Mi intervención en solidaridad con el pueblo rebelde de #Siria contra el genocidio que comenten Assad y Rusia con el aval del imperialismo pic.twitter.com/NuycHH7Ok4

— Juan Carlos Giordano (@GiordanoGringo) December 22, 2016

My intervention in solidarity with the rebellious people of Syria against the genocide committed by Assad and Russia with the endorsement of imperialism.

Here is a transcript of his speech and its translation:

Mi moción de privilegio, que hemos planteado hoy en labor parlamentaria, tiene que ver con repudiar un genocidio internacional. Cuando se pregunta, ¿en qué está afectado un diputado, una cámara de diputados de la nación? ¡Un genocidio internacional! Un delito de lesa humanidad que se ha cometido con el pueblo de Alepo, de Siria, el cual queremos repudiar. Y esta bandera representa no al dictador Bashar al Asad sino al pueblo rebelde de Alepo en contra de la dictadura de Bashar al Asad. Lo que se ha denominado la Guernika del siglo XXI, donde se han tirado bombas repudiadas por la comunidad internacional, hospitales, escuelas… Se ha asesinado a la población civil, han huído el 95 por ciento de los médicos… Alepo ha sido sitiada y se le ha prohibido el ingreso de comida y de medicamentos. La dictadura de Bashar al Asad, los bombardeos de Rusia con la complicidad de Estados Unidos y la complicidad de la Unión Europea, porque es un pueblo que se levantó contra las dictaduras como parte de la Primavera Árabe en el 2011 y se ha transformado en una guerra civil donde se ha provocado una verdadera catástrofe humanitaria. Por eso, reivindicamos al pueblo de Alepo, al pueblo rebelde de Siria contra Bashar al Asad, contra los bombardeos y la injerencia imperialista y estamos reclamando la ruptura del gobierno nacional de las relaciones diplomáticas contra esa dictadura para acorralar al dictador y ponerse de lado de los pueblos rebeldes que luchan con dignidad contra las dictaduras en el mundo. Gracias señor presidente.

My motion of privilege, that we have brought up in this parliamentary work, is about denouncing an international genocide. When one is asked in what way is an MP, the chamber of deputies of the nation affected? An international genocide! A crime against humanity perpetrated against the people of Aleppo, Syria, which we want to condemn. And this flag represents not the dictator Bashar al Assad, but the rebellious people of Aleppo against the dictatorship of Bashar al Assad. What has been named the Guernica of the 21st century, where bombs condemned by the international community have been dropped… on hospitals, schools… Where the civillian population has been murdered, [where] 95 per cent of all physicians have fled. Aleppo has been put under siege, food and medicine were not allowed to enter. The dictatorship of Bashar al Assad, the bombardment from Russia with the complicity of the United States and the complicity of the European Union, because this is a people that rose up against dictatorship as part of the Arab Spring in 2011 and [the situation] transformed into a civil war, provoking a humanitarian catastrophe. Therefore, we defend the people of Aleppo, the rebellious people of Syria against Bashar al Assad, against the bombardment and imperialist interference. And we are demanding that the national government break all diplomatic relationships with this dictatorship, corner the dictator and side with the rebellious peoples struggling with dignity against dictatorships in the world. Thank you, Mr. President.

The reference to the bombing of Guernica, the April 26, 1937 bombing of the city at the behest of the Spanish nationalist government by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, echoes the work of Portuguese artist Vasco Gargalo, whose work ‘Alepponica‘ shows some of the actors in the Syrian conflict the way Picasso drew his famous painting ‘Guernica’ in 1937.

‘Alepponica’ was widely shared in a number of publications and people even tweeted it under the hashtag #Alepponica.

An artist transformed Picasso's famous “Guernica” to bring attention to Aleppo's pain. pic.twitter.com/RdrXJeszrZ

— AJ+ (@ajplus) October 12, 2016

Palestinian activist ‘malak12d‘, who was raised in Syria, tweeted the moment leftwing activists raised the Syrian revolutionary flag in the city council.

أحزاب اليسار في الأرجنتين ترفع علم الثورة السورية في البرلمان الارجنتيني اليوم و تطالب الحكومة بقطع العلاقات الدبلوماسية فوراً مع الأسد . pic.twitter.com/tLcvExpOc8

— مَلَك (@Malak12d) December 17, 2016

Leftwing parties in Argentina raise the flag of the Syrian revolution today and demand that their government cut all diplomatic ties with the Assad regime.

Syrian activist Omar Abbas praised the work of Giordano and other Argentinian Leftists, saying that the grassroots work of Syrians and their allies in Argentina should be emulated everywhere else in the world.

Syrian activists are doing excellent grassroots work (away from opp) in Argentina, reaching out to unions and leftists to great effect.

— Omar (@omarsyria) 17 December 2016

There are too few examples of this – Syrians & allies must do independent grassroots outreach to their communities and strengthen ties.
— Omar (@omarsyria) 17 December 2016

Originally published in Global Voices.