Hands off Venezuela!

Donald Trump has attacked Venezuela and is threatening a wider war and regime change operation so he can secure control of the country and its vast oil supplies. 

 

The US launched airstrikes throughout the country on Saturday and sent in special forces to kidnap Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

 

For more than a century the US has considered Latin America as part of its sphere of influence. They have pillaged the entire region for resources and produce while arming death squads and launching coups against any Latin American leader who dares to question Washington’s authority. 

 

Trump is justifying this new aggression as part of the war on drugs, accusing Venezuela-without evidence-of being a narco-state. 

 

He has authorized the illegal killing of fishermen in the seas around the country and has been seizing oil tankers and enacting a blockade on the country. 

 

The US states that one of the reasons for the intervention, on top of the flimsy narco-state excuse, is to regain access to oil supplies that he says were illegally taken away from US corporations without compensation. 

 

This is a lie. Most US companies were given cash in return for their oil assets and either way, these resources belong to the people of Venezuela alone. 

 

What this is really about is growing global inter-imperial competition while the US is in a state of decline. They fear that China and Russia have been gaining more influence in the region and they want to kick them out to maintain American dominance. 

 

Canada has thus far avoided criticizing Trump’s actions. But we should see that silence as complicity, not condemnation. Canada has a long record of supporting US imperial ambitions in Latin America. By siding with the US, our own corporations have enriched themselves by stealing resources from the region. 

 

We need to be clear that we support the right to self-determination for the people of Venezuela and the region and oppose any imperial interference. 

 

No more imperialist interference in Latin American nations! 

 

¡Fuera Yankis de Venezuela y de América Latina!