The imperialist war against Venezuela and Latin America

The action launched by the United States against Venezuela this Saturday (3) constitutes an extremely serious episode and marks a dangerous inflection in contemporary international conflicts.

This is a brutal operation, carefully planned and executed as an explicit demonstration of force, designed to impose through violence what Washington can no longer ensure through diplomacy, international law or any minimal form of consensus between nations. The brutality of this offensive, carried out by the so-called Delta Force, a division presented as part of the elite of the US armed forces, which is in practice a terrorist organization with an international scope of action, became clear. The action also made clear the absolute disregard for the sovereignty of a country and the lives of its people.

We are facing an action of an unequivocally criminal nature. The action is criminal because it directly violates the Charter of the United Nations, ignores the principles of self-determination of peoples and the non-use of force, and tramples on any notion of international legality. It also violates principles enshrined in the Second Summit of CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) held in Havana in 2014. It is criminal because it transforms sanctions, blockades, military threats and direct military actions into systematic instruments of political coercion. And because it normalizes armed aggression as a permanent method of domination, with an unacceptable aggravating factor: the kidnapping of a legitimate and constitutional President of the Republic, a revolutionary, socialist leader, dedicated to the well-being of his people and the greatness of his nation.

This action reveals, without any disguise, the imperialist character of United States foreign policy. Multilateral institutions, already deeply weakened, collapse when the greatest military power on the planet uses brute force to impose its designs. The international system, which should mediate conflicts and contain abuses, is relegated to the humiliating status of a powerless spectator. International law is no longer a norm and is treated as a disposable item.

The war against Venezuela is fully part of the new phase of US imperialism, consolidated based on the recent national security strategy and the so-called Trump corollary. This one, devoid of character, commitment to dialogue and any moral qualifications

To exercise global leadership, in violation of the norms of international relations and multilateralism, he proclaimed Latin America as the center of his government’s strategic priorities. It treats the region as a territorial, national security and direct economic interest issue for the US. The objective is explicit: domination, neocolonialism and exclusion of other countries from the Latin American space.

Trump’s speeches, during the press conference held on Saturday at the White House, exposed the imperialist bias, the objective of political, economic and energy dominance in Latin America. Venezuela appears as a key part of this architecture, especially as it holds the largest oil reserves in the world.

The head of the White House articulated his statements within what is called the Trump Corollary of the Monroe Declaration from the beginning of the 19th century. In this reading, he claims for himself the role of direct manager of the regional order, including military intervention and control of strategic resources.

When addressing the Venezuelan situation, Trump stated that the United States will take over the management of the country until, according to his words, there is a political change considered appropriate. “We will govern the country until a safe, adequate and judicious transition can happen,” he declared, linking Venezuelan sovereignty to external tutelage.

The military dimension was dealt with bluntly. Trump stated that sending troops was not ruled out, reinforcing the willingness to use force to support this strategy. “We are not afraid of troops on the ground,” he said, justifying the military presence as a legitimate instrument of government and security.

Oil appeared as the structuring axis of the discourse. Trump declared that the United States will guarantee that the Venezuelan energy sector will be placed under a new logic of exploration. According to him, the objective is to make oil “work as it should”, in a formulation that associates economic exploitation with direct foreign intervention.

Along the same lines, he announced the massive entry of North American companies into the South American country. “The big US oil companies will enter Venezuela to spend billions and repair the deteriorated oil infrastructure, to start generating profits,” he stated, making explicit the centrality of American capital in the looting of Venezuelan oil.

In another statement that reinforced the tone of expropriation, Trump presented a false pretext, a historical misrepresentation: “They stole our oil,” he said, suggesting that Venezuelan resources were American property.

Trump’s message is clear. The United States took the first step in the MAGA imperialist enterprise in Latin America and the Caribbean, corroborated by the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine: “At this moment, our forces remain in the region in a high state of readiness, prepared to project power, defend ourselves and protect our regional interests”, he assured.

The aggression against Venezuela is, in essence, a declaration of war against all of Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly against South America. The entire region enters a new historical stage, which will require its own strategy and tactics from the people and forces committed to national sovereignty and political and social transformations.

Imperialist domination in this new stage is already manifesting itself in a concrete way in several countries in the region. Countries such as Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Panama and Costa Rica are clearly subject to Washington’s orbit. In Honduras, the North American government promoted interference in the electoral process, with a view to establishing a submissive government. The siege of Cuba intensifies, with a greater blockade and other hostile actions. There are also threats to Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, countries that have independent foreign policies. In the Colombian case, the electoral calendar draws attention, with presidential elections scheduled for May. In Brazil, the October electoral process is also part of this geopolitical tableau, making the country a potential target of pressure, interference and attempts at destabilization.

Brazil’s relationship with the United States has a peculiarity that requires increased vigilance. Balance is necessary, submission is unacceptable. Sovereign foreign policy involves the defense of national interests, regional integration and the refusal to transform the country into a platform for other people’s interests.

In situations like this, the struggle of ideas becomes more demanding and challenging, in which there is no place for fishermen in murky waters, town criers from nowhere, “teachers of god”, whose innocuous activity is equivalent to plowing at sea, confusing analysis with noise and militancy with spectacle. It is equally necessary to avoid speculations, conclusions and empty accusations, which only politically disarm those who should be prepared for the ongoing historic confrontation. It is also essential to rule out unfounded speculation and deliberately false narratives. There is a malicious suspicion of an alleged agreement between Venezuela’s strategic partners and the aspiring global tyrant, according to which extra-hemispheric forces had, in secret, agreed to limit themselves to merely protocol gestures in the face of Donald Trump’s actions, in exchange for North American neutrality in the conflicts in which these powers are involved. This is a conspiratorial delusion, devoid of any factual basis.

Finally, it is necessary to reaffirm clearly: the main enemy of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples is US imperialism, which has a defined strategy and unequivocal interests. That is why he treats the region as his backyard, explains his greed for natural resources and openly proclaims the goal of completely dominating it, a domination that the people of Latin America have never accepted and will never accept. Trump ushers in a new era of colonialism in the Americas, part of his megalomaniacal project to “make the US great again”, a strategy designed to try to circumvent the irreversible historical decline of US imperialism.

As Socorro Gomes, leader of Cebrapaz and former president of the World Peace Council, stated: “Trump’s criminal action against Venezuela will, on the contrary, accelerate the decline of North American imperialism. Our duty is, despite circumstantial adversities, to instill in the people the conviction that imperialism is not invincible and will be defeated.”

The forces fighting for a new political and economic order in the world must constitute vanguards for their people, develop strategies and tactics in accordance with the new global and regional situation, and mobilize broad social forces to face the new challenges and battles that arise.