Wearing an MST cap, Maduro asks for Brazil’s support against US escalation

The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, asked this Thursday (4) that Brazilians mobilize in defense of Venezuelan sovereignty, amid the advance of the United States military operation in the Caribbean.

The appeal was made during the program Con Maduro de Repente, in which the leader received a cap from the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) from a guest and held the symbol while speaking about “unity of peoples”.

“The fight continues. The victory belongs to us. Long live the unity of the people of Brazil, long live the unity with the Venezuelan people,” said Maduro.

The Venezuelan president thanked the solidarity of social movements and stated that Venezuela faces an offensive that combines diplomatic pressure, military operations and accusations of drug trafficking formulated by the Donald Trump government.

The Republican has sent warships, fighter jets and an aircraft carrier to the region in recent weeks, increasing tensions and causing alarm in countries in the Global South.

The MST’s gesture was received in Caracas as a demonstration of historical ties between popular organizations in Latin America and as a sign of solidarity built around the defense of regional sovereignty.

In his speech, Maduro indicated that he intends to transform this political connection into a continental mobilization against what he calls an “external threat”, reinforcing the view that North American pressure extends beyond Venezuelan territory.

The military escalation promoted by Washington raised the risk of new clashes in the Caribbean, but exposed the fragility of the anti-drug discourse used by the White House as justification for the operation.

US forces have already counted at least 83 dead in attacks classified as actions against drug trafficking, but no public evidence has been presented to prove that the victims belonged to cartels.

The lack of evidence has transformed the official narrative into a political instrument to support an offensive that is advancing without transparency and without international support.

The dispatch of the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier and F-35 fighters reorganized the geopolitical chessboard in the region and reignited the debate about violations of the sovereignty of Latin American countries, which began to denounce the unilateral advance of the United States.

Maduro declared that Caracas will only resort to weapons in self-defense. For him, any confrontation will have an exclusively defensive character, an expression used to reinforce the official position that Venezuela does not intend to start a conflict.

“If armed struggle is necessary, it will be to fight for peace, for sovereignty, for our homeland,” he stated. The president also highlighted the public support of China, which recognized Venezuela’s right to exercise full sovereignty over its territory.

In parallel to the internal mobilization, the Venezuelan government denounced the inclusion of the alleged Cartel de los Soles on the United States’ list of terrorist organizations. The measure was interpreted as part of the strategy of criminalizing Venezuelan authorities and preparing the ground to justify military actions.

Caracas maintains that the cartel is an invention of Washington and accuses Trump of trying to promote a change of regime in the country, resuming the policy adopted in 2019 and now reinforced under the anti-drug pretext.