Version imprimableWhat our comrades from the National Committee of Workers in Struggle have to say:
"First of all, to make things clear, even if this point is obvious to you and to us: we totally condemn the US military intervention.
Before 3 January, there had already been 22 armed interventions by the United States against Venezuela. On 3 January, none of the three military forces of the Venezuelan state (air, land, sea) reacted. 150 US aircraft flew over the capital, 15 US helicopters landed there, without any response. This raises questions... For years, the government has been telling us that Russia would protect us in the event of a US imperialist attack!
The fact is that the regime is still in place, as are repression and restrictions on freedoms; these have even been reinforced since 3 January. A new decree has been issued, motivated by the state of emergency.
The President of the United States is positioning himself as the world’s policeman. We know full well that what interests him in Venezuela is not democracy, but oil! It is essential to understand one thing: even under Chávez, and of course after Chávez, US imperialism never disappeared from our country; multinationals have always been present in Venezuela. Chevron is the leading example. When trade unionists in the oil sector denounced the oil gifts made to Cuba, Iran, Russia and China, they were branded as supporters of imperialism! To comply with the Constitution, every oil contract includes a Venezuelan company, but always as a minority partner under the control of a multinational corporation. The Russian and Chinese states have invested heavily in Venezuela. Today, we are in the midst of a struggle and agreements between the US, Russian and Chinese imperialists!
Under the guise of anti-imperialism, the ruling group that was in government, and still is, has become pro-imperialist. The lack of response to the military intervention on 3 January and the continuation of the government under the former vice-president show the tacit agreement with the United States.
Certainly, some people in the country hoped for this kind of external intervention to restore freedoms. That is not our position; it is not in the interests of the working class. As mentioned earlier, that is not at all the objective of the US intervention, nor is it what the US-backed government wants to do. Furthermore, we cannot accept the very principle of imperialist military intervention.
As workers and trade unionists, what are our priorities? We must continue the struggle for democracy, for the release of all political prisoners, for workers’ rights, and for respect for the right to self-determination of peoples, including our own.
We need to give our comrades in other countries some concrete information so that they can fully understand our situation, the situation of the Venezuelan working class, following on from what we were able to express at the meeting of the International Trade Union Network of Solidarity and Struggles in November 2025:- In 2018, there were very severe austerity measures, under the name of the ‘economic recovery, growth and prosperity programme’. This resulted in a ban on wage increases, while prices were deregulated.
– The official wage is less than one dollar a month! That’s the cost of two litres of petrol. There are bonuses, generally between £120 and £150. There have been no wage increases for years.
– In the oil sector, the collective agreement has not been revised for four years; this is one of the demands of multinationals that has been met.
– We have won many legal cases: for the payment of unpaid wages, following unfair dismissals, to demand reinstatements, etc. However, public companies do not respect these decisions and the government has allowed this to happen. Since 3 January, it seems that instructions have been given to ensure that the decisions themselves are contrary to the legitimate demands of workers.
– In the oil sector alone, 120 workers are in prison without even being charged. Anti-union and anti-worker repression is very strong: the state of emergency decree legalises extrajudicial arrests. Controls, for example on the content of personal telephones, are increasing. The army is stepping up pressure on companies.
More than ever, our task is to unify the working class, based on its demands and the need to assert its rights. Although the ‘great national mobilisation of 15 January’ has been suspended for the moment, there will still be actions in the coming days and weeks. The support of international trade unionism will be important for us.
Internationalism is also important with regard to the millions of Venezuelans in exile. Illusions about US intervention and the ‘aid’ of multinationals must be combated.
The law provides for worker control in companies and popular control of public accounts. But this does not exist. We must also emphasise these kinds of issues to show that the solution to the poverty, repression, etc. that we have been experiencing for years does not lie in multinational capitalism or imperialist intervention.
We must continue discussions with our colleagues and neighbours to ensure that as many people as possible share our positions: defence of workers’ demands, release of political prisoners, respect for freedoms, denunciation of imperialism!"
10 January 2026
