Author: Barry

The Trump Administration has started an illegal war against Venezuela. This is a nakedly imperialist war to install a US puppet government that will give Venezuela’s oil resources over to US corporations and to force US hegemony over Latin America — the new “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine. This war is illegal both under international law and the laws governing the declaration of war within the United States.

Trump’s war has nothing to do with drug trafficking. There is no substantiated evidence that high-level members of the Venezuelan government are “narco-terrorists.” Yet, the Trump administration is using this claim as the pretext for this illegal war. This is another regime-change war to steal another country’s oil, just like the failed war against Iraq, and to crush any resistance to US imperialism. Trump’s war will only impoverish the people of Latin America.

DSA demands:

• a return of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores to Venezuela
• an immediate end to the war and an end to all US military violence against Venezuela
• a total withdrawal of all US warships, fighter jets, and military assets from the Caribbean and an end to any operations with intervention purposes driven by SOUTHCOM
• an end to the illegal unilateral sanctions against Venezuela, and the end to the use of unilateral sanctions anywhere in the world, which kill an estimated half a million people every year worldwide
• an end to the failed “war on drugs” framework that has already led to massive human and environmental tragedies in countries such as Colombia and Mexico
• the restoration of diplomatic relations with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, including the reopening of the embassy and consular offices in US territory
• a US foreign policy centered on peace, multilateralism, and respect for national sovereignty and self-determination

Democratic Socialists of America calls on the people of the United States to protest and resist this illegal war and to stand in solidarity with the sovereign people of Venezuela, including participating in the anti-war actions called for January 3.

Additionally, DSA calls on the public to contact their representatives in Congress to demand the passing of a War Powers Resolution blocking Trump’s military aggression.

DSA also encourages members to:

• • join our “Hands Off Venezuela” mass call on Tuesday, January 6 at 9pm ET/6pm PT
  • organize within their chapters against this war and in the International Committee’s Venezuela Working Group

DSA condena la guerra ilegal de Trump contra Venezuela

La administración de Trump ha iniciado una guerra ilegal contra Venezuela. Es una guerra abiertamente imperialista para instalar un gobierno títere estadounidense que entregue los recursos petroleros de Venezuela a las empresas estadounidenses e impone la hegemonía de Estados Unidos sobre América Latina, el nuevo “Corolario Trump” a la Doctrina Monroe. Esta guerra es ilegal tanto según el derecho internacional como según las leyes que rigen la declaración de guerra en Estados Unidos.

La guerra de Trump no tiene nada que ver con el narcotráfico. No existe ninguna prueba contundente de que altos miembros del gobierno venezolano sean “narcoterroristas.” Sin embargo, la administración de Trump utiliza esta afirmación como pretexto para esta guerra ilegal. Se trata de otra guerra para derrocar un gobierno y robar el petróleo de otro país, igual que la fallida guerra contra Irak, y para aplastar cualquier resistencia al imperialismo estadounidense. La guerra de Trump solo empobrecerá a los pueblos de América Latina.

DSA exige:

• El regreso del presidente Nicolás Maduro y la primera dama Cilia Flores a Venezuela.
• El cese inmediato de la guerra y el fin de toda la violencia militar estadounidense contra Venezuela.
• La retirada total de todos los buques de guerra, aviones de combate y activos militares estadounidenses del Caribe y un alto a cualquier operación con fines de intervención impulsada por el Comando Sur (SOUTHCOM).
• El fin de las sanciones unilaterales ilegales contra Venezuela y el fin del uso de sanciones unilaterales en cualquier parte del mundo, que causan la muerte de aproximadamente medio millón de personas cada año a nivel mundial.
• El fin de la “guerra contra las drogas” fallida que ya ha provocado enormes tragedias humanas y ambientales en países como Colombia y México.
• El restablecimiento de las relaciones diplomáticas con la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, incluida la reapertura de la embajada y las oficinas consulares en territorio estadounidense.
• Una política exterior estadounidense centrada en la paz, el multilateralismo y el respeto a la soberanía nacional y la autodeterminación.

Socialistas Democráticos de Estados Unidos  (DSA) hace un llamado al pueblo de Estados Unidos a protestar y resistir esta guerra ilegal y a solidarizarse con el pueblo soberano de Venezuela, participando en las acciones contra la guerra convocadas para el 3 de enero. Además, DSA exhorta a la ciudadanía a contactar a sus representantes en el Congreso para exigir la aprobación de una Resolución sobre los Poderes de Guerra para bloquear la agresión militar de Trump. DSA también anima a sus miembros a organizarse en sus capítulos contra esta guerra y en el Grupo de Trabajo sobre Venezuela del Comité Internacional. Puede encontrar más información sobre Venezuela aquí, en nuestro kit de herramientas sobre Venezuela.

The above statement from the Democratic Socialists of America was originally published here.

No Cold War condemns US Attack on Venezuela – Korean

2026년 1월 3일 현지 시각 새벽 2시, 미국은 카라카스와 그 인접 주인 미란다, 아라과, 라과이라 등에 위치한 여러 군사 기지와 민간 지역을 공격했다. 이는 유엔 헌장 제2조를 위반한 것이며, 이로써 미국이 베네수엘라를 상대로 벌인 이 전쟁의 이유가 석유밖에 없다는 사실이 자명해졌다.

도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령은 이제 아프리카, 아시아, 라틴아메리카 등 글로벌 사우스의 세 대륙 모두에 공격을 개시했다. 이로써 트럼프도, 20세기부터 21세기까지의 역대 미국 대통령(시어도어 루스벨트, 우드로 윌슨, 해리 트루먼, 드와이트 아이젠하워, 린든 존슨, 리처드 닉슨, 로널드 레이건, 조지 H.W. 부시, 빌 클린턴, 조지 W. 부시, 버락 오바마)도 다 똑같다는 것이 드러났다. 이 공격은 트럼프가 1월 4일 미국 의회에서 할 예정이던 국정연설에 필요한 마초주의를 제공해 주기만 할 뿐이다.

미국은 베네수엘라에서 승리하지 못할 것이다. 미국은 베네수엘라 민중뿐만 아니라 전 세계 민중의 거센 저항에 직면할 것이다.

유엔 헌장 위반 반대!

전쟁 반대!

평화를 위하여!

No Cold War condemns US Attack on Venezuela – Urdu

(No Cold War condemns US Attack on Venezuela – Serbian)

U 2 sata posle ponoći, po lokalnom vremenu, 3. januara 2026. godine, Sjedinjene Američke Države napale su više lokacija u i oko Karakasa, kao i u saveznih državama Miranda, Aragua i La Guaira, uključujući vojne baze i civilne ciljeve. Ovaj napad predstavlja direktno kršenje Člana 2 Povelje Ujedinjenih nacija. Sjedinjene Države su odavno jasno stavile do znanja da je ovaj rat, koji nameću Venecueli, rat za naftu i ni za šta drugo.

Američki predsednik Donald Tramp sada je započeo napade na sva tri kontinenta Globalnog Juga – Afriku, Aziju i Latinsku Ameriku. Time se svrstao u društvo Teodora Ruzvelta, Vudroa Vilsona, Harija Trumana, Dvajta Ajzenhauera, Lindona Džonsona, Ričarda Niksona, Ronalda Regana, Džordža H. V. Buša, Bila Klintona, Džordža Buša Mlađeg i Baraka Obame – odnosno većine američkih predsednika koji su sprovodili agresije tokom 20. i 21. veka. Ovaj napad će Trampu obezbediti potreban mačo-imidž uoči njegovog obraćanja o stanju nacije 4. januara pred američkim Kongresom, ali ništa više od toga.

Sjedinjene Američke Države neće pobediti u Venecueli. Suočiće se sa ozbiljnim otporom ne samo venecuelanskog naroda, već i naroda širom sveta.

Ne kršenju Povelje UN.

Ne ratu.

Da miru.

(No Cold War condemns US Attack on Venezuela – Macedonian)

Во 2 часот по полноќ, по локално време, на 3 јануари 2026 година, Соединетите Американски Држави нападнаа повеќе локации во и околу Каракас, како и во сојузните држави Миранада, Арагва и Ла Гваира, вклучително и воени бази и цивилни цели. Овој напад е директна повреда на Членот 2 од Повелбата на Обединетите нации. Соединетите Држави одамна јасно ставија до знаење дека оваа војна, која ѝ ја наметнуваат на Венецуела, е за нафта и за ништо друго.

Американскиот претседател Доналд Трамп сега започна напади на сите три континенти на Глобалниот Југ – Африка, Азија и Латинска Америка. Така тој застана во друштвото на Теодор Рузвелт, Вудроу Вилсон, Хари Труман, Двајт Ајзенхауер, Линдон Џонсон, Ричард Никсон, Роналд Реган, Џорџ Х. В. Буш, Бил Клинтон, Џорџ Буш Помладиот и Барак Обама; односно со поголемиот дел од американските претседатели кои извришија агресии од 20 и 21 век. Овој напад ќе му го обезбеди на Трамп потребниот мачо-имиџ токму пред неговото обраќање за состојбата на нацијата на 4 јануари пред американскиот Конгрес, но ништо повеќе од тоа.

Соединетите Американски Држави нема да победат во Венецуела. Ќе се соочат со сериозен отпор не само од венецуелскиот народ, туку и од народите ширум светот.

Не на кршењето на Повелбата на ОН.

Не на војната.

Да за мирот.

(No Cold War condemns US Attack on Venezuela – Persian)

At 2am, local time, on 3 January 2026 the United States attacked several sites in and around Caracas and adjoining states such as Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira, including military bases and civilian areas. This attack is a violation of Article 2 of the United Nations Charter. The United States has made it clear that this war, which it has imposed on Venezuela, is about oil and nothing other than oil.

US President Donald Trump has now launched attacks on all three continents of the Global South – Africa, Asia, and Latin America (putting him in the company of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Barack Obama, in other words, most US presidents in the 20^th and 21^st centuries). This attack will provide Trump with the requisite machismo for his 4 January State of the Nation address to the US Congress, but that is about all.

The United States will not prevail in Venezuela. It will face serious resistance not only from the Venezuelan people but from the people of the world.

No to violations of the UN Charter.

No to War.

Yes to Peace.

A las 2 de la madrugada, hora local, del 3 de enero de 2026, Estados Unidos atacó varios objetivos en Caracas y sus alrededores, así como en estados vecinas como Miranda, Aragua y La Guaira, incluidos cuarteles militares y zonas civiles. Este ataque constituye una violación del Artículo 2 de la Carta de las Naciones Unidas. Estados Unidos ha dejado claro que esta guerra, que ha impuesto a Venezuela, tiene que ver con el petróleo y con nada más que el petróleo.

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, ha lanzado ahora ataques en los tres continentes del Sur Global —África, Asia y América Latina—, lo que lo coloca en compañía de Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush y Barack Obama; es decir, la mayoría de los presidentes estadounidenses de los siglos XX y XXI. Este ataque le proporcionará a Trump el machismo requerido para su discurso sobre el Estado de la Nación del 4 de enero ante el Congreso de Estados Unidos, pero poco más que eso.

Estados Unidos no prevalecerá en Venezuela. Enfrentará una resistencia seria, no solo del pueblo venezolano, sino de los pueblos del mundo.

No a las violaciones de la Carta de la ONU.

No a la guerra.

Sí a la paz.

English

The No Cold War collective stands in firm opposition to the illegal embargo of Venezuela, the sanctions policy, and the military aggression already faced by Venezuela through the armada and the attack on small boats. We believe that this aggression in the Caribbean has nothing to do with human rights or democracy. The United States has tried to overthrow the government of Venezuela since the Bolivarian process passed the Hydrocarbons Law in 2001, which increased taxation on oil extraction for transnational companies and mandated a minimum state participation of 51% in ‘mixed companies’ for private partners. The first coup against the Bolivarian process was in 2002, not even a year after the Hydrocarbons Law was passed. This attack on Venezuela is about oil. It always was about oil. And it always will be about oil. The United States government is trying to use its financial and military instruments to overthrow the Venezuelan government not for the Venezuelan people but for the US oil companies.

In the US National Security Strategy 2025, the administration of President Donald Trump made it clear that his government would now focus attention on the Western Hemisphere so that the US can restore its dominance in the region. It has evoked the 1823 Monroe Doctrine with a Trump Corollary – namely to enforce the Doctrine with armed will – to suggest that the US has licence to do what it wants in this region. But, in fact, the Monroe Doctrine is not international law; international law, namely rooted in the United Nations Charter, prevents any attack without a UN Security Council resolution. If the US does attack Venezuela, then that is a violation of international law and would immediately constitute a war crime (in the same way as the US illegal war on Iraq in 2003 was a war crime).

The United States has been at war with Venezuela since 2002, when it participated in a failed coup against President Hugo Chávez. For almost a quarter of a century, the United States has been trying to overthrow not only the government in Venezuela but the Bolivarian process that seeks to enhance the sovereignty of the country and the dignity of the Venezuelan people.

We call upon the world’s people to stand with the Venezuelan people against this aggression by the United States and its allies in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Europe. The world must not allow such aggression to continue.

Español (Spanish)

Declaración de No Cold War sobre la agresión de Estados Unidos contra Venezuela

El colectivo No Cold War se opone firmemente al embargo ilegal de Venezuela, a la política de sanciones y a la agresión militar que viene sufriendo Venezuela a través de la armada estadounidense y el ataque a pequeñas embarcaciones. Creemos que esta agresión en el Caribe no tiene nada que ver con los derechos humanos ni con la democracia. Estados Unidos ha intentado derrocar al Gobierno de Venezuela desde que el proceso bolivariano aprobó la Ley de Hidrocarburos en 2001, que aumentó los impuestos sobre la extracción de petróleo para las empresas transnacionales y estableció una participación estatal mínima del 51 % en las «empresas mixtas» para los socios privados. El primer golpe de Estado contra el proceso bolivariano se produjo en 2002, ni siquiera un año después de la aprobación de la Ley de Hidrocarburos. Este ataque a Venezuela tiene que ver con el petróleo. Siempre ha tenido que ver con el petróleo. Y siempre tendrá que ver con el petróleo. El Gobierno de Estados Unidos está tratando de utilizar sus instrumentos financieros y militares para derrocar al Gobierno venezolano, no por el pueblo venezolano, sino por las empresas petroleras estadounidenses.

En la Estrategia de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos para 2025, la administración del presidente Donald Trump dejó claro que su Gobierno centraría ahora su atención en el hemisferio occidental para que Estados Unidos pudiera restaurar su dominio en la región. Ha evocado la Doctrina Monroe de 1823 con un corolario de Trump, es decir, hacer cumplir la Doctrina con la fuerza armada, para sugerir que Estados Unidos tiene licencia para hacer lo que quiera en esta región. Pero, de hecho, la Doctrina Monroe no es derecho internacional; el derecho internacional, basado en la Carta de las Naciones Unidas, impide cualquier ataque sin una resolución del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU. Si Estados Unidos ataca a Venezuela, eso constituiría una violación del derecho internacional y se consideraría inmediatamente un crimen de guerra (al igual que la guerra ilegal de Estados Unidos contra Irak en 2003 fue un crimen de guerra).

Estados Unidos está en guerra con Venezuela desde 2002, cuando participó en un golpe de Estado fallido contra el presidente Hugo Chávez. Durante casi un cuarto de siglo, Estados Unidos ha intentado derrocar no solo al Gobierno de Venezuela, sino también al proceso revolucionario bolivariano que busca defender la soberanía del país y la dignidad del pueblo venezolano.

Hacemos un llamamiento a los pueblos del mundo para que se unan al pueblo venezolano contra esta agresión de Estados Unidos y sus aliados en América Latina y el Caribe, así como en Europa. El mundo no debe permitir que continúe esta agresión.

Persian

By Tings Chak

On December 10, 2025, US forces seized the oil tanker Skipper off the coast of Venezuela, carrying over a million barrels of crude. “Well, we keep [the oil],” President Trump told reporters. Venezuela’s foreign ministry called it “blatant theft and an act of international piracy,” adding: “The true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. It has always been about our natural wealth, our oil.”

That same day, on the other side of the world, China released its third Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean (the first since 2016) outlining a vision of partnership “without attaching any political conditions.” The timing captures the choice now facing Latin America. Two documents released within a week — Trump’s National Security Strategy (NSS) on December 5 and China’s policy paper five days later — lay bare fundamentally different approaches to the hemisphere.

The Monroe Doctrine returns

Trump’s NSS makes no pretense of diplomatic subtlety. It declares a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine, asserting US opposition to “hostile foreign incursion or ownership of key assets” in the hemisphere. The Western Hemisphere is now America’s “highest priority”, with three threats requiring military response: migration, drugs, and China.

Countries seeking US assistance must demonstrate they are “winding down adversarial outside influence” — a demand that Latin American nations cut ties with Beijing. The strategy promises “targeted deployments” and “the use of lethal force” against cartels. It states that Washington will “reward and encourage the region’s governments … aligned with our principles and strategies.” Unsurprisingly, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rushed to congratulate Chile’s Trump-inspired extreme right wing candidate José Antonio Kast, who won the presidency with 58% of the vote (the most right-wing leader since Pinochet).

The tanker seizure shows what this doctrine looks like in practice. Since September, US strikes on boats have killed 95 people. The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group patrols the Caribbean. As Colombian President Gustavo Petro observed, Trump is “not thinking about the democratization of Venezuela, let alone the narco-trafficking” — only oil. After declaring that a new phase of attacks could include “land strikes on Venezuela”, Trump threatened the Colombian president that “he’ll be next” as well as invasion of Mexico.

China’s alternative

China’s policy paper operates from an entirely different premise. Opening by identifying China as “a developing country and member of the Global South,” it positions the relationship as South-South cooperation and solidarity rather than great power competition. The document proposes five programs: Solidarity, Development, Civilization, Peace, and People-to-People Connectivity.

What distinguishes this paper from its 2008 and 2016 predecessors is its explicit call for “local currency pricing and settlement’ in energy trade to “reduce the impact of external economic and financial risks” — new language directly addressing the weaponization of the dollar. This trend has been underway, as highlighted by the R$157 billion (USD 28 billion) currency swap agreement between Brazil and China, signed during Brazilian president Lula’s visit to the Asian country in May this year.

China’s policy paper supports the “Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace”— a pointed contrast to US twenty-first century gunboat diplomacy. And it contains a line clearly responding to Washington’s pressure: “The China-LAC relationship does not target or exclude any third party, nor is it subjugated by any third party.”

The historical pattern

Of course, the focus on the “China threat” to “US pre-eminence” in the region is not new. In August 1961, progressive Brazilian Vice President João Goulart visited China, the first high-ranking Latin American official to do so after the Chinese Revolution. At a mass rally in Beijing, he declared that China showed “how a people, looked down upon by others for past centuries, can emancipate themselves from the yoke of their exploiters.”

The US response was swift. American media constructed a narrative linking Brazilian agrarian reform movements to a “communist threat from China.” On April 1, 1964 (less than three years after Goulart’s visit) a US-backed military coup overthrew him. Twenty-one years of dictatorship followed.

The playbook remains the same. In the 1960s, the pretext was “communist threat”; today it’s “China threat.” And what’s at stake is Latin American sovereignty. What makes this moment different is economic weight. China-LAC trade reached a record US$518.47 billion in 2024, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. China’s share of trade with Mercosur countries has grown from 2% to 24% since 2000. At the May 2025 CELAC-China Forum, Xi Jinping announced a USD 9 billion investment credit line. In 1964, Latin America had few alternatives. Today, China presents another option.

The question before the Latin American people

The right-wing surge across the continent is undeniable — Kast in Chile, Milei in Argentina, the end of MAS rule in Bolivia. These victories reflect the limitations of progressive governments when addressing crime, migration, and economic stagnation. But they also reflect how US-generated crises become the terrain on which the right wins.

The question is whether Latin American governments (including right-wing ones) want to be subordinates in what Trump’s strategy calls an “American-led world.” Even Western liberal analysts are alarmed. Brookings describes the NSS as “essentially assert[ing] a neo-imperialist presence in the region.” Chatham House notes that Trump uses “coercion instead of negotiation”, contrasted with China, “which has been providing investment and credit … without imposing conditions.”

That being said, China’s presence in Latin America is not without contradictions. The structure of trade remains imbalanced — Latin America exports raw materials and imports manufactured goods. Meanwhile, labor and environmental concerns linked to specific Chinese private enterprises cannot be ignored. Whether the relationship enables development or reproduces dependency depends on what Latin American governments demand: technology transfer, local production, industrial policy. This agenda for a sovereign national project must be pushed forward by the Latin American people and popular forces.

At present, the differences between the two visions being presented of the “US-led world” and a “community with a shared future” have never been starker.

The above article was produced by Globetrotter and previously published here by Peoples Dispatch.

Tings Chak is the Asia Co-Coordinator of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and an editor of Wenhua Zongheng: A Journal of Contemporary Chinese Thought.