Protesters march in New York City against war on Venezuela in 2019. Photo: Workers World.
By Katherine Hoyt – Nov 13, 2025
An emergency network, including the Alliance for Global Justice and the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, is calling for coordinated actions in the U.S. and internationally against U.S. attacks on Venezuela. November 15-23, 2025.
We are seeing repeated extrajudicial killings of unidentified civilians in the Caribbean and Pacific by US military forces and the escalating risk of war against Venezuela. President Trump has sent a massive fleet of warships and war planes to waters off Venezuela while threatening Colombia and massing U.S. troops in the Caribbean. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is calling for the military overthrow of President Maduro in Venezuela and the replacement of President Petro in Colombia.
This is a build-up to another endless U.S. war – a war to militarize the whole Western Hemisphere.
Let’s organize rallies, street meetings, vigils, speak-outs, teach-ins, sign holdings at busy intersections, banner drops, protests at weapons manufacturers or Federal Buildings and events where pro-war politicians show up.
And, we will continue to mobilize in local and regional actions in December, focusing on the December 17thAnniversary of the death of Simon Bolivar, “The Great Emancipator” against colonial domination.
Here are some of the actions already planned: Berkeley, CA, will hold two teach-ins, one on Nov. 13th and another on the 15th; Brunswick, ME, plans a one-hour vigil; Minneapolis, MN, plans a rally and protest; Albany, NY, plans a vigil; New York City plans a rally and march in front of one of Trump’s Buildings; Brooklyn, NY, plans a broadcast on WBAI Radio with audience participation; Portland, OR, plans talks and education at the Central Library with a march to a rally at Pioneer Square; Tucson plans a program on “Venezuela and the Struggle against War and Fascism” and also a demo at a Ford agency whose owner is a MAGA funder; Cleveland, OH, plans a rally; Seattle, WA, plans a program on the history of US intervention in Venezuela and the achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution; Green Bay, WI, plans a Banner drop on the CVS at the corner of Webster and Main; and Tulsa, OK, plans a protest.
US Navy’s Largest Aircraft Carrier Arrives in Caribbean Under Southern Command
Background
Using the false claim that it is combating drug trafficking, U.S. missiles have murdered crews of small boats (76 killed so far from 4 countries) off the coast of Venezuela and in the Pacific without evidence or due process of law. The extrajudicial killing of civilians by the U.S. military is a violation of customary international law and international human rights law, specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the right to life and due process, and to which the United States is a party. Senator Rand Paul (a Republican!) has stated, “It isn’t our policy just to blow people up […] We arrest people. […] even the worst people in our country, if we accuse somebody of a terrible crime, they still get a trial.”
These strikes are not authorized under U.S. domestic law. Section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 states that the constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce U.S. armed forces may only be exercised pursuant to “(1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” These conditions have clearly not been met. Congress must reassert its war powers and put a stop to these unlawful strikes.
In the weeks preceding the strikes, the Trump administration doubled the reward offered for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Although the Venezuelan economy is improving, extreme economic sanctions over many years fueled a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the country and the migration of millions of Venezuelans to neighboring countries and the United States.
This move towards all-out war has nothing to do with drug trafficking. But the United States has used it to justify its dangerous military escalation against Venezuela despite the fact that Venezuela is a relatively minor player in drug trafficking. Venezuela does not produce significant quantities of cocaine or fentanyl. Recent U.S. government estimates suggest that only a few of cocaine shipments bound for the U.S. are moved through Venezuela. Nevertheless, the first two boats that were attacked were reportedly from Venezuela; President Trump claimed that their occupants were members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA), a criminal gang from Venezuela that has played a marginal role in drug trafficking to the United States. Although the administration has alleged that TdA is controlled by Maduro, the U.S. government’s own intelligence agencies have contradicted this claim. The administration has accused him of being the head of the “Cartel de los Soles” despite experts disputing the very existence of such a cartel, much less Maduro’s leadership of it.
The real reason for the military actions is that Venezuela has the greatest known oil reserves in the world – five times the U.S. oil reserves. The Venezuelan government refuses to be dominated by the U.S. It is determined to use its own oil, gas, coal, diamond and gold resources for healthcare, housing and education for the people of Venezuela, not for U.S. billionaires.
It is time to take to the streets and resist these U.S. government and corporate attacks on people in Venezuela, Colombia, all Latin America and the Caribbean, while militarizing our own country and repressing the people of the U.S.
Let’s join together, November 15 – 23, and build actions in cities, towns and campuses throughout the country. Let the war makers know that we are opposed to war on people anywhere in our Americas – a zone of Peace across our hemisphere.
Katherine Hoyt is retired co-coordinator of the Nicaragua Network and the Alliance for Global Justice. She lived in Latin America for 18 years many years ago. To write this article she has shamelessly stolen entire sentences and even paragraphs from the statements on Venezuela of other like-minded organizations. She is sure they won’t mind!
