Version imprimableThis act has been strongly condemned internationally, especially by a growing number of Latin American leaders. We can highlight the statement by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who called on the international community to ‘respond vigorously.’ This action by the US government, Lula said, ‘recalls the worst moments of interference in Latin American and Caribbean politics.’ For his part, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that, as part of the United Nations Security Council , his government will convene a meeting of that body. Petro insisted that internal conflicts between peoples must be resolved by the peoples themselves. The Mexican government condemned the military actions on Venezuelan territory, noting that such actions violate the provisions of Article 2 of the UN Charter.
The rapid spread of condemnation at the governmental level against the actions of the government headed by Donald Trump is, of course, a very positive development. However, statements are not enough. As revolutionary socialists, we want to emphasise that what has happened is a blatant act of imperialist military intervention, with extremely serious direct and short-term consequences for Latin America and its peoples. It also poses serious threats to virtually every region of the world. For example, Trump has made it very clear that his government is interested in controlling and exploiting the oil resources of Venezuela, which is the country with the largest oil reserves in the world. The accusations of links between Maduro and his wife and drug trafficking are nothing more than mere pretexts: the US government has maintained friendly relations with all kinds of criminal governments.
In Mexico, we can consider that Trump is announcing military operations similar to those he is carrying out against Venezuela. Since the start of his second term, the US president has been threatening to carry out military operations on Mexican territory against the drug cartels. The reason he gives is that it is these cartels, and not the current president, who govern Mexico. This argument is nothing more than a ‘half-truth,’ as they say. Undoubtedly, the cartels wield great power, but they are not the dominant force in our country: for starters, they are embroiled in constant wars and conflicts with each other, which prevents them from exercising their power in a centralised manner. Trump demagogically uses the argument of the cartels’ power to convince a large part of his supporters, with the aim of maintaining a social base of support. The only way to effectively counter this argument is for the government headed by Claudia Sheinbaum to bring to justice all high-level officials involved in collusion with criminal organisations. Most importantly, however, we must form a broad independent and democratic front that calls for the mobilisation of workers and the broadest popular sectors to demonstrate the Mexican people’s repudiation of imperialist actions against Venezuela, as well as their rejection of threats against Mexico.
Stop the US armed forces’ attacks on Venezuela!
US troops and warships out of the Caribbean!
Stop the US government’s threats against Latin American countries!
Mexico City, 3 January 2026
