May the Invaders Lose: The US Imperialist War of Aggression Against Venezuela

Editorial Board

On January 3^rd, at the behest of the vile gangster and head of US imperialism Donald Trump, CIA plans were carried out by US Army special forces to bomb Caracas, kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and traffic them to New York City, where they face a kangaroo court on absurd “drug and conspiracy” charges.

This flagrantly criminal and despicable act of war was carried out without seeking the approval of Congress—but with the aid of monopoly media, who has been conditioning public opinion for months. Following the abduction, they ramped up their support for the imperialists’ plans of plunder, terrorism, murder, and naked piracy.

After all these crimes and confessing them like a braggart on social media, the gangster Trump turned to his beloved press monopolies from his luxury golf resort in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, to make his criminal intentions clear: the US imperialists will “run the country” of Venezuela until a “judicious transition” can happen—and of course adding that US monopolies will seize the country’s massive oil reserves. Venezuelan oil reserves are the largest in the world, containing vast amounts of heavy crude oil, the exact kind the US petrochemical industry based in the Gulf Coast processes.

Maduro is now held in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, a sinister dungeon with severe issues of under-staffing, violence, and power outages, all while the US imperialists carry out the second stage of the military aggression against the oppressed nation of Venezuela, promising more attacks on civilian and military targets.

Immediately following Saturday’s attacks and the abduction of their president, the government of Venezuela called for a state of emergency for the armed struggle and denounced the imperialist military aggression. The vice president of the country, Delcy Rodriguez, has been sworn in as interim president, and in a press release surrounded by soldiers, she stated that Venezuela has only one president, that is Nicolas Maduro. Imperialist lackey and recipient of the “Nobel Peace Prize”, right-wing reactionary Maria Corina Machado, has called for a member of her party to assume power.

The monopoly media, who less than a month ago was running headlines such as BBC’s “Venezuela says Trump wants it’s oil. But is that the case?”, now more openly echo Trump’s claims that US oil monopolies will “fix Venezuela’s ‘broken infrastructure’ and ‘start making money for the country.’” The shameless distortions of the monopoly media can be seen on full display where they cover the “celebrations” carried out by the wealthy Venezuelan expats—those who have not faced the threats of deportation—in Miami, a city with an active and politically powerful population of trash who fled the Cuban revolution. Their small gatherings, ramblings, and drunken dancing have been promoted as news by all major outlets, while the protests erupting around the world against the US imperialist aggression have received far less attention.

At its core, the attacks against the oppressed nation, carried out by the world’s largest economic, political, and military aggressor, is the fact that the US imperialist ruling class is in a severe state of crisis. Trump boldly and clumsily carries out the aims of this class in the most reckless and boisterous manner, but make no mistake, regime change in the Latin American country has been on the agenda long-term of his pathetic rivals in the Democratic mafia as well. This indicates that Trump’s bypassing of Congress is not due to any realistic fear that Congress would deny him approval, but to flex the consolidation of power that exists around the President, to hog the “glory” and butchery of an unjust war, and to assuage fears of his mob concerning the mid-term electoral farce. In short, every other factor at play arises from the main one, US imperialism is raging against all of Latin America to protect its hegemony over the oppressed nations, and this is at the core of Trump’s “new” Monroe Doctrine.

“Venezuela will not be like Afghanistan”, the president haunted by recent history attempts to convince himself and others, “we cannot abandon the Monroe Doctrine.” The Monroe Doctrine, developed by the US president of the same name in 1823, offered the strategic perspective of the US finance capitalists who sought to prevent the resource-rich part of the hemisphere from being oppressed and exploited by anyone but them, has taken on special importance again as the US imperialists collude and contend with other imperialist powers in and around Latin America. The attacks on Venezuela must be understood as attacks on all of Latin America.

Will Venezuela be like Afghanistan?

What Trump fears is that it will, otherwise he would not be trying to convince anyone that it won’t. This is the first thing, the masses make history and have invincible forces that can defeat the giant of US imperialism. This has been proven in Vietnam, Kampuchea, Yemen, and Afghanistan, where after 20 years of occupation the US imperialists were driven out in a humiliating defeat that still weighs heavily on their minds, and is today represented by the armed hands of tens of thousands of Venezuelan militia fighters and loyal soldiers. Let Venezuela then become another Vietnam, another Afghanistan, and let the invaders lose again—this is the price the US must pay for invasion.

The weakness of US imperialism has even been admitted in the highest ranks of the Trump administration by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a faithful servant to US imperialism who has most viciously promoted US aggression against Latin America, and who himself has ties to cocaine trafficking in Miami. When asked in an interview with monopoly media CBS why the US imperialist forces did not arrest other top-ranking members of the Venezuelan government, Rubio responded: “It’s very simple, you’re not going to go in and wrap up,” citing “the howls” the imperialists would face had they stayed in the country longer.

Very little expectation can be placed on the old, corrupt, and inept state of Venezuela. It has only two options: prepare to fight, however reluctantly, or continue seeking the path of capitulation and compromise with imperialism, and be exposed among the people for what it is, a miserable bureaucracy. This prepares the ground for the sweeping of the government, and the most likely scenario would be the installation of an even worse one, completely beholden to US imperialism, a puppet regime. It has become clear that the fate of the oppressed nations relies mainly on the masses and their willingness to fight against a US imperialist invasion, compelling the old-state to take up its post in defense of the country. Without this, the old-state could simply capitulate and seek to preserve itself as a servant of foreign capital.

Not only have the US imperialists offered a bribe of $50 million for information leading to the “capture” of the president of the oppressed nation, but has been operating CIA agents in collusion with corrupt state officials for some time. The attack on the president lasted only 90 minutes, with minimal resistance from the old-state. Venezuela’s anti-aircraft defense systems were not employed to shoot down the invasion from the sky, in spite of receiving advanced warnings of irregular patterns of troop and aircraft mobilizations a day before the attack. The potential for traitors cannot be underestimated, as the US imperialists plans have been to cultivate these everywhere they can, causing as much misery as possible in the process.

The Peru People’s Movement (MPP), the organization established by the Communist Party of Peru for its work abroad, released a powerful statement on January 3^rd, which reads: “We start by taking a stand for the people of Venezuela and Latin America, who are part of the immense mass of oppressed nations, nations in formation, which are the basis of world proletarian revolution.” It continues expressing that the US imperialists prepare for a new war of aggression as part of its overall strategy to control the region, focusing at the moment on Maduro by falsely labeling him a “narco terrorist,” all to justify their unconstitutional and internationally illegal actions. “We express the need to sweep Yankee imperialism and other imperialists and all world reaction from the face of the earth through people’s war” the statement reads.

MPP explains that “The proletariat of Venezuela is presented with a great opportunity to reconstitute its Communist Party, because it is a necessity, the proletariat of this country represented by its vanguard has to fight to lead the armed struggle to oppose military intervention of Yankee imperialism, to denounce, fight and confront the tendency of capitulation and national betrayal of the representatives and parties of the big bourgeoisie (of both factions) and the land owners.” They express that this task falls to the Maoist revolutionaries of Venezuela, who by putting themselves at the head of the armed struggle of the masses, can direct it against all imperialism, semi-feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism which oppress the people. In the midst of this struggle the necessity to reconstitute the Communist Party is indicated: “transform this armed struggle into a people’s war to make the revolution,” the statement reads.

It is confirmed that, in spite of the world’s most powerful and technologically advanced military, the US imperialists have not won a war since World War II and have seen no stability since, as they make trouble around the world and are defeated over and over again. All the bombast, aggression, genocide, and the bloated military budget indicate a system in crisis, weakness and not strength; such extreme and flagrant attacks like the one carried out against Maduro confirm that US imperialism is a wounded beast, forced to depraved acts of desperation. All support for the Venezuelan people, and their right to self-determination, against the unjust war of aggression must be cultivated in the heart of the hegemon, so that it cannot pass without a fierce struggle at home. It is up to mainly the working class and poor peasants of Venezuela to make a strong casket for the invaders who dare cross into their country, and for this they must rely on their own initiative and receive international support.

Statements from all over the world have bloomed in condemnation of US imperialism and in solidarity with the people of Venezuela, from resistance fighters in Palestine and Lebanon, to working people in the US who have already taken to protest in many cities. In the US it is important to organize a united front against imperialism, develop a mass movement that transforms general opposition to war into a clear position in favor of the oppressed nations against the imperialist powers, as this forms the main contradiction in the world today. In this front all efforts to traffic with the masses must be confronted, as all mass movements face attempts of being utilized for electoral cretinism. Opposition to US imperialism and its actions abroad, with support for the right to rebellion, the right to combat and resist invasion, aggression, and genocide must form the broadest basis of unity. In this the Maoists must struggle to lead, and not abandon their own initiative, serving the furtherance of the process of reconstituting the Communist Party within this country, so that their posts as part of and in service to world proletarian revolution can be fulfilled.

Photo: Rally in Venezuela against the US invasion. A woman holds a sign that says “Return our President Nicolas Maduro! Not a drop of oil for the United States.” Screenshot from YouTube.

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