Category Archives: Venezuela

Trump says U.S. is ‘starting to talk with Cuba’ even as he tries to block oil imports

by Jim Hodgson

In the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose new tariffs on any nation that exports oil to Cuba, we all need to stand firm. Here are two ways to send messages to Canadian leaders.

First, the Take Action proposed by Canadian churches, trade unions and NGOs. Yes: it pre-dates the current crisis, but its message is vital. Canada cannot be silent.

Second, the Canadian Network on Cuba has an on-line petition to Canadian parliamentarians. It too pre-dates the immediate crisis, but is still an important means to communicate.

Of course you can write your own letters to leaders in whichever country you live.

Take heart from increasingly strong messages from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Today, she denied Trump’s claim a night earlier that they had talked about Cuba, much less that he had asked her to stop sending Mexican oil to Cuba and that she would comply.

La Jornada

The only such conversation, she said while travelling in Sonora state, had been between her foreign affairs secretary, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Sheinbaum has said several times this week that her country will continue to send humanitarian aid including oil to Cuba. Various sources report that Cuba has only enough oil to satisfy needs for another 15 to 20 days.

For his part, de la Fuente told Mexican legislators today that Mexico considers it “unacceptable that there not be humanitarian aid where it is needed, when some country in the world requires it.”

Saturday night, while travelling from Washington DC to his home in Florida, Trump said the United States was beginning to talk with Cuban leaders. (There is no confirmation as of Sunday evening from Cuba that such talks have begun.)

In comments to reports on Air Force One, he added: “It doesn’t have to be a humanitarian crisis. I think they probably would come to us and want to make a deal,” Trump said Saturday. “So Cuba would be free again.”

He predicted they would make some sort of deal with Cuba and said, “I think, you know, we’ll be kind.” (U.S. interventions since 1812 have not been known for their kindness.)

The comments follow more than six decades of U.S. sanctions aimed at inducing regime change in revolutionary Cuba, the kidnapping four weeks ago of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on any country that continued to sell oil to Cuba. 

On Wednesday night, Jan. 29, he declared a “national emergency” to protect “U.S. national security and foreign policy from the Cuban regime’s malign actions and policies.”

Granma photo: Ricardo López Hevia

Cuban leaders have condemned and denounced this new escalation of the “U.S. economic blockade.”

“Surrender will never be an option, and hard times like these must be faced with courage and bravery,” said President Miguel Díaz-Canel Saturday.

The Trump regime’s tactic of confiscating Venezuelan oil tankers has worsened a fuel and electricity crisis in Cuba. The Cuban people face rolling blackouts and struggle to cope without reliable fuel and electricity supplies.

Canada must be #ElbowsUp in solidarity with Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Greenland…

by Jim Hodgson

For those who expect Canada to extend its #ElbowsUp approach to relations with the United States into solidarity with other parts of the hemisphere, here’s a chance to demand our leaders do just that: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/actiononvenezuela.

Illustration: Rachel K. Lim, Common Frontiers.

As you know, early Saturday morning, Jan. 3, the United States dropped bombs in several parts of Venezuela and kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and his spouse, “First Combatant” Cilia Flores. They were flown to New York to face trumped-up charges of drug-trafficking and weapons possession. Venezuela’s interior minister says 100 people died in U.S. attack.

Days later, two coalitions of Canadian labour unions, aid NGOs, human rights groups and churches followed up on a Nov. 13 joint statement regarding U.S. attacks on small boats by sending a new letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Foreign Minister Anita Anand.

Statements by Canadian leaders were tepid at best, especially given Trump’s history of threatening Canada’s independence.

The Americas Policy Group and Common Frontiers say that Canada must take urgent action with international partners to oppose U.S. threats to rights, sovereignty and peace in Venezuela and the Americas. 

“We join our many partners across Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond who are vigorously condemning the U.S. military operation of Jan. 3, President Trump’s stated intention to ‘run Venezuela’ and sell seized Venezuelan oil, his recorded threats to send U.S. troops into Colombia and Mexico, and threats against Cuba,” the groups said Jan. 8.

Another group, Lead Now, offers a petition to the government of Canada that you can sign.

Worth reading:

New intervention: U.S. seizes Venezuelan president, goes for the oil

Let’s be clear. The U.S. kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Celia Flores today has nothing to do with debates over the quality of Venezuelan democracy or about drug-trafficking. Like Iraq more than 20 years ago, this intervention has everything to do with oil.

Left: Claudia Sheinbaum, “Mexico energetically rejects the U.S. actions against Venezuela and calls for respect for international law.” Centre: Luis Inácio da Silva, Brazil, “Attack on Venezuela has crossed the limit of what is acceptable.” Lula added that he remains willing to promote dialogue and co-operation. Right: Gustavo Petro, “Colombia rejects aggression against Venezuela and deploys public force on the border.” Petro added he would try to convene the UN Security Council.

As responsible Latin American leaders are pointing out today, the U.S. assault on Venezuela is illegal. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pointed to Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter: “Members must refrain from threatening or using force against another state’s territory or independence.”

But the rules-based international order has been under attack for years, even by those who purport to uphold it. U.K. journalist Owen Jones writes today that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 helped normalize aggression, including Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the on-going Israeli occupation of Palestine and genocide in Gaza. U.S. journalist Chris Hedges writes that the kidnapping of President Maduro shows “America is a gangster state.”

The contrast between a statement by the U.S. women’s peace network CodePink and one by Canada’s foreign minister Anita Anand on X cannot be more stark. CodePink launches a campaign for letters to members of congress; Anand declines to condemn the U.S. intervention.

Other responses:

In his news conference today, Trump said, “We will run the country,” and: “We will stay until such time as a proper transition can take place.” Venezuelans may have other plans.

Perhaps you are following these events in mainstream media. You might also look at Latin America-based alternatives that have English-language sites. Among them:

Orinoco Tribune is an independent media outlet that provides news and analysis on Venezuela, Latin America and the Global South. It was founded in 2018 and is known for its progressive perspective and critical coverage of US foreign policy and imperialism.

Prensa Latina is a Havana-based news service.

TeleSUR is a Caracas-based television station viewed in many Latin American countries. It’s English-language service is here.