Our sister organisation in Venezuela has published a statement and a call for united resistance against imperialism on the basis of class struggle on the scale of the entire continent of the Americas, North, Central, South and the Caribbean. We are publishing the Spanish original and translations in English and Turkish.
Class struggle or class reconciliation. Defining Venezuela as a protectorate! Remember the saying, "neither bald nor wearing two wigs." A protectorate is not decreed, nor is it sentenced.
The events of the criminal aggression by the United States on Saturday the 3rd, have been slowly coming to light in public opinion: for example, the murder of the Cuban comrades, denounced by the Cuban government. Then the news came out about the Venezuelan military personnel who were killed. Not much has been said about the civilian victims; there are no precise figures, and nothing has been said yet about the wounded. Or are there no wounded? Regarding the destruction of infrastructure, we have just learned of the damage to the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research, where five research centres were affected or destroyed, those of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Ecology and Nuclear Technology, and there is no indication of who should be held accountable for these atrocities.
On the part of the Trump administration, the aggressors have repeatedly issued a barrage of high-calibre statements. In summary, they first plan to carry out a prolonged guardianship, combined with indefinite control of oil, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
They have also announced a three-phase plan for Venezuela, which will be coordinated by a group led by Rubio, Hegseth and Vance, with the oil sector playing a key role in all phases. The money generated by this will be administered and its purpose determined.
The first phase will consist of obtaining oil revenues to "stabilise" the Venezuelan economy and compensate US oil companies. The second phase will focus on the recovery of the oil sector and institutions after three decades of Chavismo, where steps will be taken towards a process of national reconciliation. The third phase will be the definitive normalisation of the transition, focusing on the reconstruction of civil society and steps towards a democratic government, colonial perhaps?
They have been very clear and repetitive: all oil revenues will be managed in such a way that it will be they who will control how they are disbursed, and all operations will favour national security interests.
However, the naval deployment will remain in place until they consider it safe, that is, until they are sure that the provisional authorities are complying with their directives to the letter, and of course these expenses will be reimbursable from the revenue generated by oil.
For its part, the Venezuelan government does not confirm any of this, but neither does it deny it. Its statements are brief and ambiguous, such as the significant one from Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), which reported on 7 January that it is currently negotiating with the United States under arrangements similar to those in force with international companies such as Chevron.
We recall that with Chevron, everything was imposed under the conditions of the Office of Control of Foreign Assets (OFAC). Now, when the US government says it is going to lift the sanctions, it does not matter as long as they are controlling everything.
First, it is important to clarify, at the risk of repetition, the criminal acts that took place on Saturday, 3 January.
In the early hours of the morning, a fierce and bloody night-time attack began in various parts of Caracas and the nearby port of La Guaira, as well as the removal of Maduro and, strangely, his partner Cilia Flores. This was very different, for example, from the removal of Zelaya when he was president of Honduras, who was taken away in his pyjamas and without his wife.
Then, at dawn, statements were made by both D. Cabello, Minister of the Interior, and Padrino, Minister of Defense, without mentioning the kidnapping of the president, denouncing the attack and calling for calm among the population. They did not mention the existence of people killed by the invaders. Then Delcy Rodriguez announced Maduro's disappearance and demanded proof of life, without saying to whom it was addressed. All called for calm, without referring to any response or defense regarding what had happened.
Around midday, some 10 hours after the events, Trump spoke, boasting about the action and its effectiveness, confirming Maduro's kidnapping and revealing his recognition of Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela's spokesperson, adding that Rubio had previously held talks with her. He also reported the rejection of Maria Corina Machado. Rodríguez then also made statements, in which she did not mention the murders and confirmed that she was in dialogue with Trump in search of a peace agreement.
There is no call to the population in the face of this fierce aggression
All of this is strange, given the ongoing aggression of the United States towards Venezuela, accentuated by unconfirmed reports of attacks and the literal elimination of boats and their crews carrying drugs to the United States, following bombings of a dock, a warehouse and a ranch in December for the manufacture and storage of drugs. This is a continuation of the script that began with the presence of the US naval fleet.
A fact or a lack of facts is the omission in any official statement by the government regarding these multiple operations involving murders, some of which are probably false. These interventions, published in the media, continue to be exploited and used persistently by the media complicit with imperialism.
Previously, there was the Obama decree, economic sanctions, blockades, failed coups, sabotage, intervention, abuses by the Office of Control of Foreign Assets (OFAC), and even thefts of gold, ships, aeroplanes, and confiscation of oil.
The government has been evasive in issuing statements on this matter and providing answers, even though the events, some real and others alleged, are known through the US media.
A comparison is worth making
What is happening now in Venezuela is not disconnected from what is happening in Palestine, where the heroic struggle against genocide continues, as a historic turning point in resistance.
These are two elements of the same problem, of the same common cause. Over there, the Americans and their Israeli henchmen cannot allow what was, until October 2023, a fierce and inhumane control over Western Asia to slip from their grasp. Through the Abraham Accords, they sought to extend and strengthen their control through the horror inflicted on the Arab and Persian peoples. But the Palestinian resistance rose up to prevent the continuation of this macabre plan, where they want to maintain indefinite control over this strategic area of oil and gas, on the one hand, and at the same time the crossroads of trade of all kinds, between East Asia and Europe.
Venezuela, in the northern part of South America, facing the Caribbean Sea, with the largest oil reserves, secure, low production costs, clear sea routes, no straits or gulfs, and no opinion matrices discrediting the immense comparative advantages of this oil from the Orinoco Belt and conventional oil. One need only compare the cost of fracking in the US or that of a platform in an inhospitable offshore area in the north of the Essequibo.
Throughout all this, oil deliveries to Chevron continue to be fulfilled and satisfied, with Repsol, Italy's ENI and Maurel & Prom pending. All of these companies are from countries that do not recognise Maduro's government.
How should we approach this?
Venezuela is "oil", but... not without the oil proletariat. First, without them there is nothing, but neither is there anything without the workers who produce food in companies such as metalworking companies, as well as services, health and education. However, we do not have the right to strike, collective bargaining, freedom of association or wages in line with basic needs.
But it is because of what we produce (oil) that Venezuela is at the forefront of the world stage, being debated in the UN Security Council, the US Congress, and joint statements by Chile, Colombia, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico.
Who is looking out for them in this "transition"?
In Venezuela, in this context, the world order is being aired, on the one hand, the US, with its backyard and the sycophants Milei, Kast, Paz, Novoa, Jeri, Mulino, Bukele, Orsi, from Ecuador and Peru, and soon Asfura in Honduras, or the sovereign and necessary backyard to be created with the workers, where progressives fail and repeat their failures.
Furthermore, China, Russia, Ukraine, Palestine and Western Asia all have energy in common as the target of dispute and world war.
We must position ourselves, in Venezuela, starting from the aggression, where we must not neglect the defense of Cuba, its achievements after the revolution, nor confuse or identify imperialism with the governments of both countries.
Maduro a dictator? Whatever he may be, he is not a dictator, and besides, the US puts dictators in place wherever it wants, whenever it wants. This is of primary importance in order to know how to fight, the slogans, the means, the objective, the main enemies, the secondary ones.
Above all, it is necessary not only to show solidarity, but also to fight together, something that has been lacking until now, not only because of the events that increasingly question the urgency of the Fourth International, in a context where the so-called Trotskyist parties, fragmented and sectarian, do not overcome nationalism because they cannot see beyond their own country or, worse still, beyond their own noses. The nationalism that must sometimes be overcome transcends the country, this time it is Venezuela, and, in this way, it presents itself to become revolutionary or counter-revolutionary, if we understand where we are located and therefore act or continue to be mistaken, navel-gazing and unable to unite under a single slogan of concrete struggle over Venezuela. Here, the destiny of all the peoples of the Americas as a whole is at stake.
Once again, the weakest link in the global imperialist chain presents itself. Let us know how to use it.
For the unconditional return of President Maduro to Venezuela
Break relations with the criminal government of the United States
Down with US bases throughout Latin America and the world
Not a drop of oil for the US
Kick out the exploitative US companies on Latin American soil
Down with Executive Order 13692 issued by Obama in 2015 and still in force, which declares Venezuela a threat to US security
Down with imperialism
For trade union freedom and the right to strike, for the combative unity of workers of the Americas
For full rights for immigrants
For the Socialist United States of North, Central, South America and the Caribbean
Opción Obrera (Venezuela)