A Dangerous Escalation of Violence
The kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, following several months of U.S. military buildup, attacks on alleged drug smuggling boats in the southern Caribbean, and U.S. declaration of armed conflict against drug cartels, represent a dangerous escalation of violence, a criminal violation of international law, and a direct assault on the principles of sovereignty, self-determination, and collective human security
enshrined in the UN Charter.
When powerful states are emboldened to act with impunity, the international law-based order is undermined, and the risk of wider regional and global conflict increases. This brazen advancement of the imperialist spheres of influence dogma therefore represents a threat to the whole world.
A Pattern of Colonial and Resource-Driven Intervention
Fundamentally, this unilateral armed attack represents a new iteration of the historical colonial practices of the U.S. on Latin America’s soil and elsewhere – including military action, sanctions, and blockade – as it seeks to subjugate a sovereign nation through violence to plunder its strategic resources.
The illegal attack on Venezuela is not an aberration – it is a foreseeable outcome of a fossil-fuel-dependent global order. Past U.S. imperial interventions have frequently been linked to efforts to control oil reserves or secure dominance within the global energy market. The threats of taking over Greenland follow the same pattern of intending to plunder other countries’ resources, in this case under the pretext of protecting U.S. security.
“Narco-terrorism” as a Pretext for Regime Change
This latest attack stands out as one of the most unhinged interventions to date. Barely masquerading as a ‘law enforcement’ operation, the Trump administration – as per their own admission – is intent on forcing the Venezuelan government to open the country to U.S. oil firms.
Just as the War on Terror used terrorism as a pretext for military invasion over the past two and a half decades, including throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the U.S. government is deploying a discourse of “narco-terrorism” to legitimise regime change, military action, and a new era of the War on Drugs, which has already killed hundreds of thousands of people in the Americas region.
An Attack on the Entire Region
The U.S. government has made it profoundly clear, including through its new national security strategy, that its aim is to subjugate the people, land, resources, and politics of the Americas region through a revived version of the imperialist Monroe Doctrine.
Over the past year, the U.S. administration has issued repeated threats against numerous other countries in the region, notably Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, and Canada, and has touted its influence over election results in Argentina, Chile, and Honduras. By claiming that “this is OUR Hemisphere” in the wake of its assault on Venezuela, the U.S. government is demonstrating that its attack on the people and sovereignty of Venezuela is an attack against the entire region.
Militarism Does Not Bring Freedom
Once again, militarism is being presented as a solution to political and economic tensions and necessary to promote ‘freedom’. But history shows us the opposite: military interventions deepen instability, exacerbate humanitarian suffering, and disproportionately harm women, children, Indigenous peoples, and marginalised communities. They entrench cycles of violence rather than resolve conflict.
What has been touted and celebrated as a ‘successful strike’ ignores the fact that at least 80 people were killed during this illegal action. In the eyes of the U.S., the operation was ‘successful’ as no U.S. military personnel was killed; this shows once again the complete disregard and contempt for the lives of Latin American people.
What We Call on the International Community to Do
We call on the international community to:
- Condemn the U.S. unilateral and unprovoked aggression of Venezuela;
- Act urgently to put an end to all actions contrary to international law, including the unlawful use of force – or threats of use of force – and acts of aggression;
- Reject militarisation, including hypermilitarised and securitised responses to the drug trade and recommit to diplomatic, political, and multilateral pathways;
- Move the Money away from war, weapons and criminalisation, and towards social justice, climate action, peace and public health and housing systems – real solutions to public suffering including drug use;
- Urgently phase out fossil fuels, including through the negotiation of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to remove the structural incentives for oil-driven aggression;
- Support Venezuela’s neighbouring countries, particularly Colombia, in exploring alternatives to maintain sovereignty and autonomy in the face of U.S. incursions and in managing the migratory effects resulting from the current situation.
Solidarity With the People of Venezuela
WILPF stands in solidarity with feminist movements, peace organisations, and the people of Venezuela and across the world who are calling for an immediate end to the U.S. military aggression and the respect of the rule of law, and reaffirms the right of the Venezuelan people to freely choose their leaders and determine their own future.
