CAMPAIGNERS will gather in central London today to hit back at the lies spread about Latin American politics at the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign AGM.

It has been a busy period for VSC as MPs and media outlets hostile to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party have seized on right-wing street violence in Venezuela to denounce its government and Mr Corbyn for having praised its revolution.

A spokesperson for the solidarity group said the AGM would be “the biggest in a number of years” because of the new challenges facing Venezuela.

“There’s a growing realisation across the labour and progressive movements that [US President Donald] Trump has his sights on regime change.

“We will be reflecting both on the difficult challenges ahead and how we can spread information about what is really going on in the country, rather than the one-sided analysis we sadly see in so much of the corporate media.”

Labour MP Chris Williamson has sent best wishes to the meeting, although he is unable to attend as he is speaking in Wales that day — about Venezuela.

“We all know that Venezuela has been going through incredibly difficult times recently,” he said, but “it’s vital to set these difficulties in context — including the oil price collapse, economic sabotage by Venezuela’s wealthy elite and the growing aggression by the Trump administration.

“Trump’s tactics echo what happened in 1973 in Chile, when a democratically elected socialist government was destabilised and ultimately overthrown by a military coup.

“That’s why our solidarity is more important than ever.”