
Volume 55 Number 26, November 1, 2025	ARCHIVE	HOME	JBCENTRE	SUBSCRIBE

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The Caribbean must be maintained as a Zone of Peace:
Hands Off Venezuela!

In Memoriam

Colin Hicks

We are very sad to let our readers know that we have been informed that long-standing member of RCPB(ML), Colin Hicks, passed away in April, 2024. Colin was in his 80s. We express our deep condolences to his family, comrades and friends.

Colin, who joined the Party's work in London in the 1970s, was an extremely loyal member of the Party, always putting the interests of the Party and the people above everything. He threw himself into organising the people in South and East London on joining the work. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was especially noted for the complex and responsible task of organising the logistics of the Party camps, earning an associated nick-name that stayed with him for the rest of his life. It was work for which he was well-suited, given his predilection for the outdoor life of camping, walking and hiking. Following his formal retirement, he utilised his love for the natural environment by taking up work as a professional gardener.

In the period following the founding of RCPB(ML), he first moved to South Wales to join the Party's work there, later moving to various locations in the West Country to organise that part of the country, ending up living in Cornwall for the later part of his life.

While he was in South Wales, the struggle of the youth for their rights broke out in earnest in 1981, which the authorities called "riots". Centres of struggle were Brixton, Liverpool and Manchester, among other places, one of which was St Paul's, Bristol. Colin was closely involved in organising the youth and the community of St Paul's at that time. Along with others, he produced a local newspaper, "Voice of the Youth", and organised such events as a concert "Hands Off the Youth" in defence of 12 youth of St Paul's who had been arrested. This work contributed to the collapse of the trial of the "St Paul's 12".

Whilst in Cornwall, he became very active in the work against war and for an Anti-War Government. He also allied with the forces in Cornwall taking up the question of Cornish self-determination. It also became a tradition for him to meet with the Party leadership every New Year in Exeter to discuss the application of the Party programme for that year in the West Country. One of the fruits of this was the holding in Exeter of the Party forum on the way forward to a new society.

Colin worked for a time in the construction industry, and used this expertise not only in renovations to his own dwellings, but in participating in the extensive renovation of the Party's John Buckle Centre over a number of years. It will never be forgotten how he stood in overalls and mask in the midst of clouds of dust and debris as he demolished wall after wall in the Centre, or how parts of the Centre were cordoned off and out of bounds as he reconstructed the floors.

Colin Hicks was also a keen photographer. In this capacity he took many high quality photos for the Party of demonstrations such as against the invasion of Iraq, as well as such workers' movement events as the commemoration of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Most importantly, Colin for many years was the custodian of the Party's photo archive, which he meticulously catalogued.

Neither should it be forgotten that Colin was an accomplished folk musician, regularly attending the Cornwall Folk Festival in Wadebridge. He put this expertise to good use in song-writing. He was especially proud of his song "Call Off Your Dogs of War", originally written to protest about the Iraq War, but which he thought would be particularly relevant to the anti-war movement of today. Colin sang this song as part of the progressive opera "Occupation Is Not Liberation", which was collectively written after the invasion of Iraq.

Colin Hicks will be remembered as very kind and considerate, eager to involve himself in discussion, and with a hardy disposition. For a few years before his death, while in his 80s, he had difficulty walking, but refused as far as possible to let this hinder his energetic work for democratic renewal.

In one of his last emails to the Party centre, he writes: "Life seems to be getting too complicated but I reckon that it's mostly connected to the actual or imminent collapse of Global Capitalism. Cheers!"

Colin, you will always be fondly remembered and find a place in our hearts!

Demonstration in Caracas to defend peace and oppose US threats against the country, October 6, 2025

On October 26, the government of Venezuela issued a statement denouncing what it referred to as the "military exercises" being carried out in the neighbouring country of Trinidad and Tobago between October 26 and 30. These warmongering exercises are co-ordinated and financed by the United States government and according to the statement "constitute a hostile provocation against Venezuela and a serious threat to peace in the Caribbean". The government of Venezuela also reported that it had apprehended a "mercenary group" linked to the CIA which provided information that a "false-flag operation" was being prepared to create the pretext for a "full-scale military confrontation" against Venezuela.

Trinidad and Tobago, October 16, 2025, picket for peace

The statement was issued in the wake of the deployment by the United States of an unprecedented military armada in the Caribbean. The armada includes at least a dozen warships, including three guided-missile destroyers, an attack submarine, a special operations ship, a guided missile cruiser and the world's largest warship USS Gerald Ford, which can carry over 90 military aircraft. In addition, US imperialism has deployed 10 F-35 fighter jets, as well as other aircraft and drones, and over 4,500 marines and other military personnel in the region, even reopening a military base in its colony of Puerto Rico to facilitate this warmongering activity. On October 9, the Prime Minister of Grenada announced that his government had received a request from the US for the "installation of radar equipment and associated technical personnel at the Maurice Bishop International Airport". In recent days USS Gravely, a guided-missile destroyer, arrived in Trinidad and Tobago as part of the armada.

The stated justification for this unprecedented military build-up is allegedly to prevent narcotics trafficking and other illegal activities in the region and the US government have even gone so far as to attack several small boats in the region, killing over 43 local people who appear to have been engaged in fishing and legitimate activities off the coasts of their own countries. As has been pointed out by many commentators, the summary execution of people in this manner, without the due legal process, or any evidence, is completely illegal and contrary to all international norms of conduct. At the same time, leading US politicians have stated publicly that the entire aim of the US government's actions is to bring about regime change in Venezuela. It is certainly not accidental that on October 10 the inappropriately named Nobel Peace Committee announced that it had awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado of Venezuela, who is known for her advocacy of a U S military attack on her own country.

Solidarity with Venezuela at the Bolivar Monument, Havana, Cuba

One of the most outspoken critics of US warmongering in the region has been the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who has denounced the military attacks launched by the US for killing Colombian citizens and violating that country's sovereignty and has called on the United Nations to hold the US legally accountable for its "act of tyranny" in the Caribbean. Petro added, "There is no war against smuggling; there is a war for oil and it must be stopped by the world. The aggression is against all of Latin America and the Caribbean." In recent weeks the heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with the notable exception of the government of Trinidad and Tobago, issued a statement reaffirming the necessity to maintain the Caribbean as a "zone of peace" and reaffirming "unequivocal support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries in the Region and the safety and livelihoods of the people of the Region". This statement echoes the many protests and statements that have been made both by notable individuals and numerous organisations in the region, which have all condemned the warmongering and illegal activities of US imperialism, reiterated the principle that the prevention of illegal activity in the region must be conducted, as the CARICOM statement expressed it, by "international co-operation and within international law". The overwhelming sentiment of all people in the region is that the Caribbean must remain a zone of peace.

The illegal warmongering activities of US imperialism in the Caribbean and Latin America must be condemned and terminated immediately, before any further escalation and loss of life. The peoples of the region have the right to live within a zone of peace and to choose their own governments without any outside interference.