Aliran condemns the US large-scale attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores – a blatantly illegal attempt at regime change.
The military assault on 3 January and the abduction of the country’s leaders breach international law, specifically Article 2 of the UN Charter, constituting an act of aggression against a sovereign nation.
The earlier killing of innocent fisherfolk in Caribbean waters, the seizure of oil tankers and violation of regional territorial waters reveal a pattern of state terrorism in the tradition of imperial violence.
All this amounts to a brazen transgression of Venezuelan sovereignty, international law, democracy and human rights, which must be fully condemned.
This aggression forms part of a decades-long campaign against Venezuela. It has involved sanctions, attempted coups, economic warfare and the seizure of Venezuelan assets. This is all designed to control the country’s vast oil reserves.
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These actions also represent the behaviour of a global menace that has been responsible for the suffering and deaths of millions of people through ideological proxy wars and competition for influence.
The US flexes its muscles simply because it can, acting as little more than a bandit driven by greed for others’ resources, as seen in its recent designs on Canada and Greenland.
Such military aggression cannot be dressed up as a deep concern for democracy, especially in Venezuela, which has 303 billion barrels of oil, the world’s largest reserve. The US has consistently cloaked illegal interventions with justifications such as spreading democracy or combating drug cartels, when the real aim is to control oil flows and to access reserves.
History shows a similar pattern: the allegations of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which proved to be a bogus pretext for invasion. Western invasions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere in West Asia caused over a million direct deaths and a few million more indirect deaths.
Some believe the invasion of Venezuela aims to protect the petrodollar system, which has allowed the US to wield global economic dominance. Venezuela’s move since 2018 to sell oil in currencies other than the dollar poses a direct threat to this system.
We see a disturbing pattern emerging from history: Iraq switched oil sales to euros in 2000 before the illegal 2003 US invasion. Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi proposed a gold-backed pan-African currency before the 2011 Nato intervention. Venezuela itself has sought Brics membership and has provided priority oil access to Brics nations while moving away from dollar-based transactions.
We condemn the US’ latest unlawful action, as President Donald Trump tries to bring Latin America under the US sphere of influence with his version of the Monroe Doctrine.
The international community must not allow the powerful to bully weak and small nations – for this would be tantamount to the rule of the jungle.
This direct invasion of a sovereign nation crosses international red lines and demands severe condemnation. No nation has the right to invade another country simply because it dislikes its leader or covets its resources.
This display of aggression now threatens developing nations in the Global South seeking political and economic independence. What has taken place in Venezuela could one day undermine the hard-won self-determination by formerly colonised peoples across the world.
Many well-meaning governments have fallen for US pretexts for aggression, which have enabled violations of international law to proceed unchallenged. This is unacceptable.
Aliran is thus happy to note that the Malaysian government has called for the immediate release of President Maduro and adherence to international law.
Regional organisations in the South, including the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), the African Union and Asean – apart from the United Nations – must speak out louder against these international crimes.
Otherwise, they will have failed to defend Venezuelan sovereignty in the face of a neo-colonial act of war, which might strike closer to home next time.
Finally, we call on the Nobel Committee and the world football federation, Fifa, to withdraw their peace prizes to the laureates implicated or who have supported this aggression.
Aliran executive committee
4 January 2026
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
Does Trump even care what the world thinks about his actions or has any regard for international laws?
May be Trump wants to control the world’s largest oil reserves in Venezuela and then he can punish Russia India China Iran and make OPEC countries irrelevant if USA were to control over 50% of world oil reserves and to this end Trump may even make USA 51st State as Trump has declared USA will be in Venezuela as long as he considers necessary.
By disregarding USA Congress and Constitution Trump may be perceived to have become a defacto Dictator of USA.
Bless all