Aggression Against Venezuela is a Brazen Crime of US Imperialists!

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By Gennady Zyuganov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation

The world has seen yet another monstrous act of imperialist aggression. In the small hours of January 3, 2026 the US Air Force delivered massive strikes on Caracas and other cities in Venezuela. The targets included the President’s residence, the National Assembly building, the Hugo Chavez Mausoleum, military facilities and transportation hubs. The barbarous act claimed lives, including women and children. One of the aims of these strikes is to demoralize the nation and break its will to resist.

The scale of destruction and the number of victims have yet to be assessed. But it is perfectly clear that the Trump regime will stop a nothing to overthrow an undesirable government of an independent state. Another bloody crime has been added to the long list of imperialists’ evil acts. The US ruling circles have again demonstrated to the world their true essence. An armed attack has been launched against a country whose authorities have dared to follow an independent path of development, to use its natural resources for social development and to pursue a policy in the interests of the working people.

The night air strike on the territory of a sovereign state is a gross violation of the UN Charter and international law. It is nothing if not an open act of state terrorism aimed at toppling the legitimate government and installing a puppet regime by force. There can be no justification for such actions.

A new bloody crime has been perpetrated against peace and security. It adds to the list of evil deeds of the US imperial policy over decades. The wars in Vietnam and Korea, attempts to invade Cuba, the bloody coup in Chile, the tragedies in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria – all these actions “to restore order” have claimed millions of victims, people who have been robbed, forced to become refugees, maimed and killed.

The US bears the main responsibility for the war in Ukraine. It was Washington and its European satellites who fomented the Bandera maidan, backed the Nazi battalions, overthrew the legitimate government and prepared the false Minsk agreements. Ukraine was being pumped with weapons and drawn into a military clash with Russia.

The imperialists continue to take steps to assert their global hegemony. Reacting to the US attack on Venezuela, Kallas, the head of European diplomacy, said that the European Union is “closely watching” the situation and that Maduro “does not have enough legitimacy.” All this is an overt attempt to play up to Washington and cover up the criminal character of its aggressive actions.

Ever since Hugo Chavez’s confident victory in the 1998 presidential election Venezuela has been a constant worry for the global capital and is agents. In the past two centuries the White House has seen Latin America as its “backyard.” By speaking out in favor of “21st-century socialism” Caracas delivered a hefty blow at the US positions in the region. The socio-economic reforms of the left-wing government in the interests of the masses became a thorn in the side for Washington.

The attempt to reverse the choice of the popular masses failed. Venezuelans courageously withstood the US economic blockade, financial aggression and sanctions terror. Their struggle was not only in defense of their own country. It became a frontline of the world anti-imperialist resistance.

Global capital was infuriated when others followed the example of Caracas. Over the past years the adherents of socialist transformations scored important victories and gained new state governance experience in Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador and other countries. The Bolivarian ALBA alliance united the progressive forces of the region, challenging the unequal unions under Washington’s aegis.

The US had no intention of releasing its greedy grip on Latin America. It used every trick in the book – coup attempts, tough sanctions and undisguised support of the right-wing opposition. The climax of these actions during Trump’s first presidency was his team’s attempt to declare their man, Juan Guaido, president of Venezuela. The adventure failed. The people refused to trade independence and social guarantees for the false chimeras of liberal democracy. The collaborators who were prepared to surrender their country to alien interests suffered a humiliating defeat.

As soon as he returned to power Donald Trump resumed his onslaught on Caracas. The hopes that his administration would concentrate on solving internal problems of the US, proved illusory. Global capital needed new international adventures in order to preserve its hegemony. Like his predecessors, Trump assiduously fulfils the orders of the oligarchy. The new national security strategy has revived the “Monroe doctrine” which declares that there can be no other global players in Latin America than Washington.

The escalation of the conflict began several months ago, with the White House groundlessly accusing Venezuela’s leadership of conniving at drug trafficking. This utterly false claim formed the basis of the preparation for aggression. The US maintained a large military force in the Caribbean ever since the 1989 “Panama Crisis.” The US tightened the blockade of Venezuela, brazenly demanding the capitulation of the legitimate government.

As before, the Venezuelan people rallied around its leaders. Attempts to stage noisy protests and a government coup by the hands of the mock opposition failed. Having failed to create a semblance of a “color opposition” the imperialist circles resorted to an overt invasion.

The seizure by the US military of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife was a monstrous crime. We are looking at an act of international terrorism involving the kidnaping by the armed forces of a foreign power of the head of a sovereign state and a member of his family.

Particularly concerning are reports that Nicolas Maduro has been taken to the territory of the United States. It should be borne in mind that any encroachment on the life and freedom of a legitimately elected head of state is not just a crime against a concrete individual. It is an act of war against the whole country, its principles of people’s rule, sovereignty and international law.

The aggression that has been perpetrated goes far beyond the framework of an attack on a single state. It is a challenge to the entire Latin American region. An attempt is being made to bring it back into the era of neo-colonialism when the US installed “banana thrones” of adventurers whom they vested with dictatorial powers. Donald Trump’s policy is directly aimed at throwing Latin America decades back, depriving it of sovereignty, its social gains and historical perspective.

The Central Committee of the CPRF unequivocally condemns the latest US miliary adventure against an independent state. We express profound solidarity with the fraternal people of Venezuela, its struggle for independence, its striving to build a socially just society. There can be no justification of the criminal actions of the American military!

We demand an immediate and unconditional end of Washington’s aggressive actions with regard to an independent state. We stress that the responsibility for the life and health of Nicolas Maduro and his wife lies squarely and barely on the leadership of the United States. The President of Venezuela must be returned to Caracas without any conditions to be able to perform his duties as the head of state.

We are convinced that the power bodies and all the political forces in Russia should proceed from the need to get Washington to end its imperialist aggression. It is high time for everyone to recognize that any illusions that the current US administration is to be preferred to “globalist democrats” are not only hollow but dangerous.

We call on the BRICS countries and on every state that comes out for a multipolar world to take urgent collective measures in defense of international law. We deem it necessary to immediately put this issue up for discussion by the UN Security Council. We stress the growing urgency of forming and strengthening collective security systems which would be capable of opposing the NATO bloc and any claimants to world hegemony.

We call on the progressive forces of the planet to unite for rebuffing the invasion of Venezuela. All the opponents of imperialism, working people, communists and patriots must form a common front against the new wave of the militaristic actions of the US. We appeal to the left parties and movements, the trade unions and social organizations, and all the honest people of the planet to launch a broad campaign of international solidarity with the people of Venezuela.

The essence of what is happening is clear. Behind it are the interests of the financial capital and the miliary-industrial complex of the United States. They are anxious to establish control over the exceedingly rich natural resources of Latin America. We are dealing with the capitalist class which, for all the internal differences, is one in the main thing: the desire to preserve its world dominance and suppress any hints at independence.

Imperialism is the main threat to peace and security of humankind. Aggression against Venezuela is a logical link in the chain of actions of neocolonialists. To watch such actions silently would mean to get an imperialism that is still more belligerent, vicious and confident of its impunity. Only a consolidated struggle of the peoples against the diktat of capital, for socialism, for genuine rule of the people can block the path toward new wars, interventions and destruction.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation insists on:

- unconditional end of the US military aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;

- immediate release of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife;

- total termination of any external interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela;

- an international investigation into the criminal actions of the US and on bringing the persons responsible to account;

- a principled stand and active role of all the states in defending the sovereignty of Venezuela.

Long live the gains of the Bolivarian revolution and the legacy of Hugo Chavez!

Shame on the US imperialism and its satellites!

Long live the free and sovereign Venezuela!nazto