Statement of the ILPS
The International League of Peoples’ Struggle condemns the sham court appearance of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores in a US courtroom nearly three months after their kidnapping from Caracas. Protests outside of the courtroom, in Caracas, and around the world spoke courageously to the mass outrage the people have against the brazen aggression of US imperialism and the demands of the Venezuelan people to free their democratically elected leaders and kick the Yankees out of Venezuela.
On January 3rd, the United States killed over 100 Venezuelan and Cuban people when they bombed the city of Caracas and kidnapped President Maduro and Flores. If there was an illusion that international law existed, it was certainly shattered then. US President Trump tried to justify this by claiming, with no evidence, that the President and First Combatant directed a global drug trade and used the Venezuelan state to smuggle these drugs into the US, the so-called “narco-terrorism” charge.
The main focus of the court proceeding itself was whether Maduro and Flores would even be able to pay their lawyer given that US sanctions make it impossible for Venezuelan currency to be used in the US, another clear reminder of the hybrid warfare waged against Venezuela’s economy. In a further act of hybrid warfare, Trump put out public statements earlier in the day claiming the guilt of Maduro and Flores without evidence, using statements such as “[Maduro] emptied his prisons into our country,” a clear act of interference in a judicial process. This is only one of the latest reminders that this sham trial has nothing to do with real justice but instead has everything to do with trying to justify the lawless acts of US imperialism.
These legal warfare tactics of the US, and the broader actions of the US in Venezuela itself, are a response to a new crisis that US imperialism faces in Latin America, the Caribbean, and around the world. As Venezuela, Cuba, and other nations in Latin America and the Caribbean began asserting their sovereignty against decades of intervention and plunder, the US strategized how to destroy these movements that firmly challenged its imperialist plans.
The US is in deep crisis as Trump wages unjust wars against Iran and other countries, and overstretches US military bases across the whole world while the US and allied world economies are in sharp decline. The US is trying desperately to push back its economic rivals, especially China and Russia, and is targeting the trade partners of these countries such as Venezuela. This is why the US destabilized the country, not to protect human rights, but to protect US superprofits in the face of competition.
The US has demanded conditionalities on the Bolivarian government and its acting President Delcy Rodriguez. These have included that Venezuelan oil sales must be approved by the US government, a foreign power, and that sanctions relief be tied to opening up Venezuelan industries to foreign investment, essentially giving multinational corporations more control. Also, a recently passed Amnesty Law included the release of violent US-backed saboteurs, including many who took part in attempted right-wing coups.
With the threat of renewed military invasion still on the table, these conditionalities amount to the US holding a gun to the head of the Venezuelan state. But they also speak to new realities for US imperialism and the people of Venezuela. The US seeks total control over Venezuela’s economy and political system, yet knows that it does not have the ability for a military occupation to impose this, given the firm resistance of the people of Venezuela and the fact that it is mired in its war of aggression against Iran while preparing for a future war with China.
Trump’s regime change attempt failed and the Bolivarian Revolution is not defeated. While engaging in mafioso-like tactics, Washington has been obliged to recognize the Bolivarian Revolution and the acting President of Venezuela. Reforms involving oil or other commodities demanded by the US have involved the full participation of the elected Venezuelan Parliament under the processes of the Venezuelan Constitution. This has maintained national unity in the face of US attempts to break the country.
In Venezuela, the US has backed two decades of unsuccessful coup attempts and false “Presidents in exile” like Juan Guaidó and María Corina Machado, who have been firmly rejected by the majority of Venezuelans. Meanwhile, the people have been taking to the streets in Caracas and around the country demanding the return of their rightful President and First Combatant. The communes, beating hearts of the neighborhood-based economies, are self-sufficient and still run independently by the people and their mass organizations with support from the government.
At the same time, the US maintains a suffocating blockade against Cuba’s people and energy sector and has declared a joint counterinsurgency campaign with the rightwing government of Ecuador titled “Operation Extermination” that hints at possible military intervention against Colombia and a major US-backed fascist offensive against the entire region.
It is more important than ever for the people of the world to stand with the people of Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, and all nations in Latin America and the Caribbean as peoples’ movements surge to call on the Yankees to be kicked out of their countries and everywhere.
The ILPS joins with the Venezuelan people in demanding the immediate freedom and return to Venezuela of President Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores. It calls on its members around the world to stand with the people of Venezuela, the wider region of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the entire world and to continue growing the movement in each of their countries to destroy US imperialism, end imperialist war and conquest, and to take back our peoples’ lands and sovereignty!
Signed,
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
