Let’s unite the struggles of the Latin American peoples with that of the workers of the US against Trump
A US fleet has been deployed in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela. With Trump’s unilateral declaration of “war on drug trafficking,” his administration has claimed the imperialist “right” to intervene militarily.
A direct political-military objective is regime change in Venezuela. He has declared President Maduro a “narco-terrorist” and put a $50 million bounty on his head. Trump considers himself the “sheriff” of the Caribbean and Latin America. In a matter of weeks, he has established a semi-naval blockade off Venezuela and sunk three boats, killing more than 30 crew members, accusing them of being drug traffickers. He has just sunk two more boats off Colombia and Trinidad, where survivors and relatives have proven that they are artisanal fishermen.
Trump wants to assert U.S. “rights” over what he considers its “backyard” in Latin America. To this end, he is resorting to the —never entirely abandoned—policy of the “big stick” and the diplomacy of “gunboats” (and nuclear submarines, and the “authorization” of direct attack operations on Venezuelan territory).
This is part of the struggle between capitalist monopolies, particularly against China, which in recent years has made advances in international trade with Latin America. The United States remains the main direct “investor” in Latin America (38%), followed by the European Union (16%) and, quite a bit further behind, China, which is even in decline. But commercially, China is the main destination for many Latin American exports (such as Brazil, Chile, and Peru). Latin America has become increasingly dependent on agricultural and raw material exports (Chile and Peru on copper, Brazil and Argentina on soybeans, Venezuela on oil, etc.) and imports of manufactured goods. But the money it receives from its exports is not invested in industrialization or economic development or in solving the acute social problems of the working masses. It goes directly into the pockets of the oligarchies and to pay the “external debts” to the IMF and US and European imperialist finance capital.
Trump uses the ongoing economic war against China (and Russia) to tighten the screws throughout Latin America and dictate his policies. He wants to gain economic advantages and advance greater military dominance. This militaristic and fascist-oriented offensive also scapegoats poor Latino immigrants in the US who are expelled militarily. His plan of militarism and economic warfare is accompanied by growing internal militarization, which does not stop at mass arrests of migrants, but includes the deployment of troops in most of the country’s major cities. The working class of the US itself is a central military target of Trump’s offensive.
The US AFL-CIO trade union leadership has also been involved in supporting US military interventions in Venezuela, Latin America and throughout the world through the government funded AFL-CIO “Solidarity Center”. We call on US workers to reject the pro-imperialist policies of the AFL-CIO leadership who have also supported the trillion dollar military budget of the US government. US workers and unionists must link up directly with workers in Venezuela, Latin America and around the world in opposition to their own capitalist ruling class who are threatening the working class of the world.
We are against US imperialist action. We reject its military threats and demand the immediate withdrawal of the US fleet from Latin American waters. The US has some 800 bases around the world: 9 in Colombia, 8 in Peru, 3 in Mexico, 3 in Honduras, and 12 in Puerto Rico! The people of Puerto Rico have responded to the announcements with growing mobilizations that are a resurgence of the questioning of their status as a direct US colony. The US has reinstalled troops in the Panama Canal and is pushing for the installation of bases in new countries such as Brazil and Argentina.
In its hybrid war of economic and military measures, it has promoted a plebiscite for November 11 in Ecuador to “legalize” the reinstallation of military bases that had been closed years ago. The U.S. has lent $600 million to the Noboa government, which is facing a general strike against fuel price increases and other anti-popular measures, and has announced that it will lend it another $5 billion if the YES vote wins in the referendum.
The same is true in Argentina, where Trump is lending money to Milei’s government (increasing public debt and defending the interests of bondholders) on the explicit condition that his far-right ally wins the elections against growing popular opposition. The US ambassador and other Trump envoys are meeting directly with governors, bourgeois opponents, and union bureaucrats to uphold their economic interests in the country, particularly to advance on lithium and rare earth deposits. Milei has just decreed the entry of US troops into Argentina to participate in joint military exercises with an eye toward “consolidating regional stability,” according to the military in charge.
The US government has pushed through the OAS the formation of a military force, a new Minustah, to intervene in Haiti. It wants Latin American governments to provide soldiers so that it can withdraw its own and carry out adventures against Venezuela and other places.
The Latin American bourgeoisie and a large part of the bourgeois nationalist movements act in a cowardly fashion. Maduro has proposed negotiating with Trump for US free access to concessions, such as those already held by Chevron, on Venezuelan oil (the world’s largest reserve). Trump has rejected this because he wants regime change. He is working to divide the regime and its armed forces. He has launched a global propaganda campaign that culminated in the appointment of his ally, the right-wing Venezuelan leader Corina Machado, as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Corina Machado participated in the coup attempt against Chávez in 2002 and has always called for economic sanctions against Venezuela and even direct US military intervention.
We oppose imperialist intervention and militaristic aggression aimed at regime change, but we do not give political support to Maduro and his corrupt, repressive circles against the working people. It is necessary to arm the workers, nationalize Yankee and imperialist companies, banking, and foreign trade, under workers’ control.
The BRICS allow the development of this imperialist military threat against Venezuela, just as they allowed Trump and Netanyahu’s genocide against Gaza. Brazil has positioned an army on the borders of Venezuela. The Latin American bourgeoisies remain silent. At best, they try to explain to Trump that he is “wrong,” as Petro of Colombia has done.
It is young people and workers who are mobilizing against the imperial powers and their policies of austerity and imperialist war in Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. More than 7 million Americans (from all communities) demonstrated on October 18th in 2,000 cities across the US against Trump’s fascist actions. Let us unite our strength.
U.S. imperialism out of Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, and all of Latin America! Immediate withdrawal of all naval and air forces from the Caribbean!
End the persecution of Latinos living in the US; no more persecution of immigrants!
Out with the IMF. No to the payment of usurious foreign debts!
No more imperialist interference in Latin American nations!
¡Fuera Yankis de Venezuela y de América Latina!
Independence for Puerto Rico. UK out of Islas Malvinas.
Workers of Latin America and the World unite, for the Socialist Unity of Latin America and the World!
Communist Liberation (Greece)
PO – Workers Party (Argentina)
TIR – Revolutionary Internationalist Tendency (Italy)
SEP – Socialist Workers Party (Turkey)
SWP – Socialist Workers Party (Great Britain)
UFCLP – United Front Committee for a Labor Party (United States)
Tribuna Classista (Brazil)
GAR – Revolutionary Action Group (Mexico)
Fuerza 18 de Octubre (Chile)
Comunistas (Cuba)
Internationale Socialister (Denmark)
SEK – Socialist Workers Party (Greece)
Linkswende (Austria)
Marx21 (Spanish State)
Pracownicza Demokracja -Workers Democracy (Poland)
Solidarity (Australia)
Internasjonale Sosialister (Norway)
DSIP – Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party (Turkey)
Revolutionary Left Current (Syria)
Workers Solidarity (South Korea)
WCP-H – Workers Communist Party of Iran- Hekmatist (Iran)
