"Decolonialism Monthly": Statement on US Intervention in Venezuela
US forces abduct Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro
Early on the morning of January 3, 2026, US bombs fell on Caracas and helicopters filled the air. Chaos ensued as US special forces invaded Nicolas Maduro's residence and martyred over a hundred people-—including 32 Cuban nationals—-to reach the Venezuelan president. The US special forces team kidnapped Maduro along with his wife, Cilia Flores, 'first combatant' of Venezuela's socialist movement. Maduro and Flores were flown to New York and are now being held hostage in an American prison. This act of war—which, apart from the kidnapping, included the bombing of a civilian medical equipment facility—was the culmination of months' worth of military and rhetorical escalation against the sovereign state of Venezuela by the United States. During the buildup, the Trump administration halfheartedly tried to manufacture American worker's consent for US intervention by promoting a lie that Maduro is the head of a 'narco-trafficking' ring (a ring that even mainstream US media admits may not actually exist). At the same time, the US is trying to prop up Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel 'Peace Prize'. Machado is a Venezuelan oligarch whose family got rich exploiting the Venezuelan working class before the Bolivarian Revolution nationalized the oil industry and gave more power to the working class. Nobel 'Peace Prize' recipient Machado is, unsurprisingly, a proponent of US military intervention in Venezuela and of privatizing Venezuelan state-owned assets.
The actual reasons behind these acts of war were made clear in the days preceding, and in the immediate aftermath of, the attack. Before the kidnapping of Maduro, US forces pirated multiple ships involved in Venezuela's oil trade. When asked what the US would do with the oil from the seized tankers, Donald Trump said, "We'll keep it." After the kidnapping, US officials held a press conference where Trump proudly claimed the US is going to "run" Venezuela, stating, "We're going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground". This aggression is the American capitalists' attempt to force regime change in Venezuela and install a puppet government that will do the bidding of American capital, opening up the people and resources of the region, including the world's largest oil reserves, to exploitation by US-based corporations. The actions of the US have disregarded the grave concerns of the international community, trampled upon Venezuela's sovereignty, security, and legitimate rights and interests, and disturbingly violated the principles of sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful settlement of international disputes, and the prohibition of the use of force in international relations. In short, the US is blatantly violating international law, with Trump stating that his actions are guided by his "own morality", and even bragging, "I don’t need international law."
The working class should view these acts of war as obvious examples of imperial and neo-colonial aggression. We cannot accept the subjugation of the Venezuelan people and their resources to the same corporate powers that are funding the ongoing genocide in Palestine. We must stand with the Bolivarian Revolution and Venezuelan people as they navigate this illegally-imposed turmoil directly caused by the ruling class of the United States. Be wary and learn how to navigate the imperialist lies spread about Venezuela, to distinguish fact from fiction. Capitalists want you to believe US access to Venezuelan oil will benefit the average American, but it will instead only grant riches to a select few billionaires and corporations, exacerbate the climate crisis, and further immiserate the Venezuelan people who are already suffering from US sanctions. They want you to believe their slanderous lies about Maduro to justify their aggression. The Trump regime and its mainstream media puppets will continue to grandstand and pound their chests and tout their "'victories"' to make you believe that they are in control of Venezuela, all while ignoring the reality on the ground.
The reality is that Delcy Rodriguez—Maduro's Vice President who was sworn in as President after his kidnapping—hails from a family with a history of resisting US imperialism. The Rodríguez family’s revolutionary credentials are etched in struggle. Their father, Jorge Antonio Rodríguez, a leader of the Marxist-Leninist organization, Socialist League, was tortured and murdered by the Punto Fijo regime in 1976. Both Delcy and her brother Jorge (the President of the National Assembly) emerged from this tradition of mass struggle for socialism. President Maduro himself was a cadre of the Socialist League. The people of Venezuela have stood resolutely behind Rodriguez. Since the kidnapping there have been many massive Chavista Demonstrations, with millions of Venezuelan people calling for the release of Maduro from US imprisonment. Chavismo is the revolutionary socialist movement unique to Venezuelan working class culture. At a recent Chavista demonstration, Venezuelan Interior Minister and PSUV Secretary General Diosdado Cabello called on the Venezuelan people to trust in the revolutionary leadership headed by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez:
“Our sister and comrade Delcy Rodríguez needs constant, unwavering support. She has already stepped up and taken the lead. She did not seek this responsibility, but like every Venezuelan woman, she was told, ‘It is you.’ And there is Delcy, fighting for the homeland...Rest assured that we will never deviate from the path of Bolívar and Chávez.”
Despite this display of US state-terrorism, a people united under revolutionary principals can build organized structures capable of resisting imperial aggression. The American working class must fully support the sovereignty, rights, and will of the Venezuelan people. We must fully support the Bolivarian revolution as it navigates this most recent form of imperial aggression from the global north. We must fully support Venezuela's right to defend itself. We must do our part in the belly of the beast to stand in solidarity with our Venezuelan brothers and sisters, and end imperialism once and for all.