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.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric expressed concern and condemnation calls for respect for international law, non-intervention and respect for territorial integrity.
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.
The claim by U.S. President Donald Trump that his forces attacked “a big facility” in Venezuela left me wondering if he was (again) flat-out lying, having another cognition meltdown, or maybe speaking some sort of truth.
In a radio interview Dec. 26, Trump said: “We just knocked out – I don’t know if you read or you saw – they have a big plant or big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard.”
In Venezuela, officials reacted hesitantly. It turns out there was a fire earlier that day at a chemical warehouse run by a company called Primazol in Maracaibo, a major hub for the export of petroleum. But in Venezuela, the fire was treated as a minor event, and the company issued a statement rejecting “the versions circulating on social media,” stating that they “have no relation to the incident and it does not correspond to official or verified information.”
The Primazol plant is located five km from the sea, making it doubtful that there was any facility there from which boats carrying drugs could depart, much less a “dock,” as Trump claimed in a second set of comments at Mar-a-Lago Dec. 29. (“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.”)
Today’s New York Times morning newsletter quotes U.S. officials who may be trying to provide cover for their boss or offering a semi-truthful account:
A port strike
The C.I.A. [Central Intelligence Agency] conducted a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela last week, people briefed on the operation said. The strike was on a dock where U.S. officials believe a Venezuelan gang was storing narcotics, and it did not kill anyone, they said. The strike is the first known American operation inside Venezuela.
This Times story offers new details on the strike, which President Trump has already discussed openly, despite the secrecy that typically surrounds C.I.A. operations.
The Trump administration has focused on three goals — to limit Nicolás Maduro’s power, to use military force against drug cartels and to secure access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves for U.S. companies.
“We’ve had 27 weeks of imperial madness”
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello denounced the silence of the international community, particularly the United Nations (UN) and other multilateral organizations, regarding the months-long offensive waged against his country by the United States government.
“We’ve had 27 weeks of imperial madness… harassment, threats, attacks, persecution, theft, piracy, murder, and the world – I mean the world, that UN and its cronies – is silent; nobody says a word,” he stated during the activation of a new security program in Aragua state.
He added that “imperialism, those who think they own the world,” not only intend to steal Venezuela’s natural resources, but “want to go further” and subjugate the Venezuelan people because “they don’t like dignified peoples who demand respect and respect themselves.”
Cabello, who highlighted the character of the Venezuelan people in the face of years of attacks of various kinds, offered assurance: “They are not going to ruin our Christmas or New Year, they cannot because of how many things we have endured, how many things they have tried against this people.”
On Monday afternoon, the U.S. Southern Command announced that it had struck another small boat in the eastern Pacific, killing two more men. The new strike means that the U.S. military has killed more than 100 individuals in an operation widely condemned as illegal.
Mexico’s president rejects interventions, call for greater UN leadership
Speaking at a news conference early on Dec. 30, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the UN should play a more prominent role in these cases.
“What we have to say is that we do not agree with interventions, especially military ones. That is enshrined in our country’s constitution, and that is what we will continue to defend,” she said in response to a question about the case.
When asked if there should be a call in the region to support Venezuela, she replied, “Yes, and as we have said, the United Nations must take a more prominent role in these cases.”
Diverse parts of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) are responding to the situations facing Venezuela in different ways.
On Dec. 24, several UN experts (“special rapporteurs”) denounced the partial maritime blockade imposed by the United States on Venezuela as violating fundamental rules of international law. The same day, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil welcomed the statement: “The truth about Venezuela is breaking through around the world.”
Meanwhile, the OHCHR has announced a new “fact-finding” mission to Venezuela that will include Alex Neve, former secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.
And Canada?
Silence from Ottawa regarding U.S. aggression towards Venezuela has been resounding – even in the face of reports that Canada helps the United States in those boat attacks. It’s clear that the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney is choosing its words carefully in the face of U.S. threats to Canada’s sovereignty.
But Canada should at least uphold the 2014 declaration by Latin America and Caribbean countries that their region is a “zone of peace,” support calls for UN leadership in peace-making, and reject the new U.S. National Security Strategy.
Canadians need to call on their government to speak out against illegal U.S. airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, say two coalitions in which I have participated for nearly three decades.
Left: Calling on Canadians to act (Artwork by Harmeet Rehal); Right: AP news story on the 20th boat strike carried out by the United States since September.Another attack was reported a day later.
Common Frontiers and the Americas Policy Group sent a letter Nov. 13 to Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, and Defence Minister David McGinty urging Canada to:
Speak out publicly and condemn the unlawful attacks and extrajudicial killings of civilians in the Caribbean and Pacific by the U.S. military;
Contribute to the promotion of peace and security in the region and join efforts to press the Trump administration to respect national sovereignty and uphold the rule of law;
Suspend participation in Operation CARIBBE to avoid the risk of Canadian complicity; and
Adhere to Canada’s obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty by removing regulatory exemptions that allow loopholes for the export of arms to the U.S. without oversight or human rights risk assessment.
Just a day earlier, Anand had told reporters that it was not her job to determine if the United States has breached international law when striking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea.
“As Canada’s foreign minister, I hold responsibility for Canada’s compliance with international law—we are always seeking to comply with international law,” Anand said. “Regarding the question that you asked, I would say it is within the purview of U.S. authorities to make that determination.”
Her comment was soundly criticized by international law experts, including Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada’s English section. She told Hill Times that international law only works if it is upheld by all states.
“It is a collective responsibility to uphold international law. It is not up to a country to focus on itself and decide whether or not it is applying international law—in that case, nobody would,” she said. “What the United States is doing is truly making a mockery of international law. It is normalizing what are, in effect, extrajudicial killings.”
The attacks take place amidst months of arrests and deportations of Venezuelans in the United States; false allegations of Venezuelan state collusion with a criminal gang called Tren de Aragua; massive U.S. movement of troops and warships into the Caribbean; and conjecture about what the Trump regime intends to do. On Nov. 13, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on social media: “President Trump ordered action—and the Department of War is delivering. Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR.”
Former CBC News correspondent Dan Rather cited the Washington Post in calling it the biggest military presence in the Caribbean in decades. And he added:
… a curious build-up if the stated goal is simply drug interdiction. Another explanation would be Trump wagging the dog, creating a diversion by manufacturing a crisis that he can then fix and allowing him to flex and crow about taking down the leader of a small country. Or it could be just about commandeering Venezuela’s oil.
Here below, from the Venezuela Solidarity Network, are some reasons to help stop a potential U.S. war against Venezuela:
Please write to your own Member of Parliament to express your views.
📍VANCOUVER, BC Rally & Info Tabling Friday, November 21, 5:00pm Vancouver Art Gallery – Robson Street Side Organized by Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice
📍OTTAWA, ON Saturday, November 22, 3:30pm U.S. Embassy – York and Sussex Organized by Alba Movimientos Ottawa
📍WINNIPEG, MB Sunday, November 23, 1:00pm River and Osborne Sponsored by Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity Committee, United in Action, Communist Party of Canada – Manitoba & Araucaria
Unwrapping Development 