"Oppose the Criminal US Attack on Venezuela!"
A Statement from the Partido Lakas ng Masa
There is only one word to describe the United States’ attack on Venezuela: criminal. Invading a sovereign country, bombing its cities, and kidnapping its elected president are crimes under international law. These actions are not an aberration—they express the true character of the US empire, which rules through war, coercion, and terror.
A Bipartisan War on Venezuelan Sovereignty
The current assault is the product of a US bipartisan politics of decades-long campaign to destroy Venezuelan sovereignty since the people elected Hugo Chávez in 1998. That democratic choice initiated a redistribution of wealth, expanded popular education, and guaranteed free healthcare to millions long denied these rights—directly challenging imperial control over Venezuela’s resources and future.
The Clinton administration applied political pressure and financed right-wing opposition forces. The George W. Bush administration backed the failed 2002 coup. After Chávez’s death, the Obama administration escalated sanctions and in 2015 branded Venezuela an “extraordinary threat.”
Trump intensified economic warfare and open threats, while the Biden administration largely preserved the sanctions regime that devastated popular living conditions. Trump pulled the trigger, but every administration before him loaded the gun.
The Monroe Doctrine Reborn: NSS 2025
This aggression is now openly codified in US doctrine. The 2025 National Security Strategy explicitly revives and hardens the Monroe Doctrine:
“After years of neglect, the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere… We will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to own or control strategically vital assets in our Hemisphere.”
The “Trump Corollary” on the Monroe Doctrine is clear: total domination of the Americas, control of strategic assets and supply chains, and the replacement of independent governments with compliant ones. Venezuela—rich in oil, minerals, and strategic position—is a primary target.
Sanctions as Economic Warfare
Sanctions have been a central weapon in this war. They were designed to strangle the economy, deepen hardship, and break popular resistance. Yet despite immense suffering, Venezuela has endured, reorganized, and pursued greater self-sufficiency under siege.
War for Profit: US Corporations Move In
The motives are no longer hidden. Even as bombs fall, US corporations are already circling like vultures. According to the Wall Street Journal, senior figures from hedge funds and asset management firms are preparing a trip to Venezuela to scope out “investment opportunities,” particularly in energy and infrastructure. This is imperial war in practice: destruction first, privatization and plunder next.
Escalation Across Latin America
The danger does not stop at Venezuela.
According to the New York Times, the real problem is not Washington’s aggression, sanctions, or regime-change policy—but Cuba. In a familiar Cold War reflex, socialist Cuba is once again cast as the hidden hand behind Venezuelan resistance, blamed for undermining “democracy” and obstructing US objectives.
This serves one purpose: to deflect responsibility from US imperialism and reassert the doctrine that no independent political project in Latin America is acceptable unless approved by Washington.
Trump is now openly threatening Mexico and Colombia, laying the groundwork for further intervention.
He has declared:
“The cartels are running Mexico… something is gonna have to be done with Mexico.”
Trump called out Colombian President Gustavo Petro by name, accusing him without evidence of “making cocaine and sending it to the United States.” “So he does have to watch his ass,” the US president said of Petro, who condemned the Trump administration’s Saturday attack on Venezuela as “aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America.”
This is the language of imperialist prerogative—the assertion that Washington alone decides which governments are legitimate and which countries require US military action. It signals a widening assault on sovereignty across the hemisphere.
Kidnapping, Killings, and Lies
We denounce the US kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. Maduro is now being paraded in Trump’s media establishment in a dehumanizing way as an example to threaten other countries’ opposition to the US imperial might.
Any detention, disappearance, or removal of Venezuela’s elected leadership is a grave crime and an act of war.
We condemn the killing of Venezuelan civilians and military personnel and honor those who have died defending their homeland.
We categorically reject the use of fabricated pretexts—including false drug accusations and recycled anti-Cuba hysteria—to justify imperialist violence. These lies are standard tools of intervention and plunder.
A Call to Oppose Imperialist War
This attack must be opposed by all who claim to stand for peace.
Those on the Left who have disagreements with the Maduro government must set them aside and oppose imperialist aggression without qualification.
The assault on Venezuela is part of a wider global escalation. The United States has attacked Nigeria, threatened Iran, and continues to arm Israel as it carries out genocidal violence against Palestinians while bombing Lebanon and Syria. The world is being driven toward a broader war.
History shows where unchecked imperial aggression leads. The last time the world stood this close to catastrophe was when fascist powers invaded their neighbors with impunity. Those acts were rightly condemned as reckless and criminal. The same judgment applies today.
Our Demands
We call on peoples and movements worldwide to mobilize in active solidarity with Venezuela—with Latin America, and all nations under threat—to resist this criminal assault on sovereignty, peace, and self-determination.
Now is the time for Left and progressive forces worldwide to unite against imperialist aggression.
We specifically demand that the Government of the Philippines publicly condemn this attack and uphold the principles of national sovereignty and non-intervention.
US Hands Off Venezuela!
Release Maduro Now!
Hands Off Latin America!
No More Wars for Oil!
Imperialism Will Not Prevail!