Why Venezuela? Why Now?
The self-proclaimed “anti-war president” gins up war against the Venezuelan people–and beyond
By the International Work Team of Liberation Road
As of this writing, 57 people have been killed by US military forces in international waters, a mix of Venezuelans and Colombians on small boats.
Multiple naval ships and aircraft are deployed in the south Caribbean, including the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, with almost twice the number of fighter planes as the entire Venezuelan Air Force.
Trump has overtly authorized the CIA to go into Venezuela. In fact, Venezuela has reported “false flag” attacks by CIA operatives on a US warship and on the US embassy in Caracas with the goal of drawing Venezuela into military confrontation.
So why is this happening? Is it really about “narco-terrorism”?
No. Venezuela is not a prime exporter of drugs into the US. Colombia is the center of the cocaine trade. Fentanyl is largely produced in Mexico. Heroin comes from Asia. Most drug traffic into the US comes from either the Pacific or over the border with Mexico. The Trump administration is well aware of the logistical unlikelihood of small boats crossing several thousand miles to the US. Trump is conducting extrajudicial killings of brown people, likely fisherfolk, with glee: made-for-TV sport. “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country,” he says. “OK? We’re going to kill them.”
Why is the US targeting Venezuela? In part, it’s the familiar tale: “Our oil is underneath their soil.” Venezuela has the largest proven oil deposits in the world at this point, larger than Saudi Arabia’s. And it’s in “our backyard.”
Yet as the US sent warships and drones to the region and started blowing up boats, Venezuela offered the US a dominant stake in its oil and mineral wealth to try to avoid conflict. Then Trump ended the discussions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long dreamed of removing Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro, appears to have the upper hand. While there are not enough troops deployed for an actual amphibious invasion of Venezuela, there is more than enough air and naval power for a sustained bombardment of the country.
The US has attempted several times to remove both Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez. There is no room for national sovereignty and independence for the Venezuelan people.
And beyond Venezuela, the US has a far-reaching goal: to tighten its domination of the Americas, reassert the Monroe Doctrine, and gauge the response of the peoples and governments of Latin America–especially Brazil and Mexico.
So, what is to be done? As of this writing, there has not been a large, visible movement response to Trump’s provocations. The peace movement has largely focused on Palestine, and much of the resistance has rightly focused on defending US-based immigrant communities against ICE.
Still, there is resistance at the Congressional level. A bipartisan Senate war powers resolution introduced on October 17, if passed, would be a strong rebuff to the Trump administration taking military action against Venezuela. An earlier resolution against military action around “narco-terrorists” had almost the entire Democratic Party plus GOP senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski voting for it, very narrowly failing to pass. This is pretty unprecedented! Normally establishment Democrats carry a lot of water for any president and military action (think of Bush and Iraq).
Trump would pay a high political cost to pull off anything major. There would be serious pushback. He is running up against the loathing by some in the MAGA coalition of more wars of choice.
But we must remain vigilant and ready to respond if there is a false provocation and media- generated outrage that precipitates direct US confrontation inside Venezuela with its military. We also must be able to present simple and clear explanations that counter the Trump propaganda machine. As we organize within our workplaces, movements, and our broader communities, it’s important to make the following points clear:
Trump is aiming for regime change, and control of Latin America beyond Venezuela, under the guise of a “war on drugs.”
Venezuela is not a drug empire. Remember the false claims of weapons of mass destruction that led us to war with Iraq.
The Venezuelan people have the right to determine the course of their own nation, free of US meddling and war-mongering.
Murdering people in small fishing boats, with zero evidence of their involvement in drug trafficking, is illegal and morally reprehensible. We can’t allow our government to further normalize lack of due process and war crimes.
These actions threaten to escalate into another trillion-dollar “forever war” abroad, even as Trump and MAGA continue to gut healthcare, slash food assistance, and destroy the safety net for working families at home
You are part of the majority of Americans who do not want this. We need to let our voices be heard loud and clear.
Bonus point: why isn’t our Navy helping out Jamaica recover from the devastating after-effects of one of the worst hurricanes in decades?
A crucial point here: there is a word for “just killing people” you are not at war with and without (the still barbaric) authority of a execution following conviction and sentencing for a capital crime. That word is murder. Even if every one of these boats was laden with drugs bound for the US and everyone on board was involved (preposterous hypotheticals), murdering them in international waters would still be a heinous crime.
It also feels important to name that as the world becomes multipolar and the US increasingly has to recognize China's growing position, there is a need for Empire to strengthen it's hemispheric dominance. The bully cannot pick on someone it's own size