The mobilization of the working class demanding the release of the presidential couple. Photos: VTV Multimedia and Mppci.
By International League of Peoplesâ Struggle – Feb 3, 2026
Joint Statement on the One-Month Anniversary of the US Kidnapping of President NicolĂĄs Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores
For one month, our organizations have joined hundreds of others and millions of people in taking to the streets from Caracas, to New York City, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Havana, San Juan, Port of Spain, Mexico City, Guatemala City, BogotĂĄ, La Paz, Buenos Aires, London, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Barcelona, Rome, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Ramallah, Amman, Tehran, Karachi, Manila, Jakarta, Sydney, Wellington, and many other cities around the world showing the strength and broadness of our shared anti-imperialist united front against US imperialism and all reaction. The International League of Peoplesâ Struggle (ILPS), the Resist US-Led War Movement, the International Womenâs Alliance (IWA), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Philippines, and the Philippines-Bolivarian Venezuela Friendship Association stand united in principle and in action in solidarity with the people of Venezuela and against the US imperialist offensive in Latin America and the Caribbean.
US Imperialist Aggression in Latin America and the Caribbean
One month ago from today, on January 3rd 2026, the US military carried out a military invasion in which over one hundred Venezuelan and Cuban soldiers and civilians were killed as special forces kidnapped Venezuelan President NicolĂĄs Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores in a blatant act of aggression. US President Trump then declared that the US will ârun Venezuelaâ and began directing US and other multinational oil companies to begin investing heavily in Venezuelaâs oil industry to secure their access to super-profits from the countryâs resources. The latest comments on the intention to control Venezuelaâs oil industry destroy any remaining myths of the so-called ânarco-terrorismâ false propaganda campaign that the US used as media cover for its profit-driven invasion and plunder of Venezuelaâs economy.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to meddle in Latin American elections to ensure that rightwing pro-US regimes come to power. Existing US-puppet governments continue to railroad policies in which extractive industries and financial institutions have complete control over their peopleâs agriculture, minerals, coastlines and waterways, and all aspects of industrial production. The US has colluded with these regimes to position more military power in Latin America and the Caribbean than at any time since the end of the Cold War.
A Desperate Empire Overstretched Around the Entire World
The USâs imperialist offensive over the past month has not been confined to Latin America and the Caribbean. Following on the publication of the US National Security Strategy (NSS), Trump has continued making provocative comments about annexing Greenland and Canada to secure US complete control over the Western Hemisphere. The White House released a hostile statement against Cuba, calling it âan unusual and extraordinary threatâ and pledging harsher sanctions against the country.
Despite Trumpâs claim to focus his NSS on the Western Hemisphere, the US continues to flex its war machine and consolidate its economic and political control throughout the world as well. The so-called âBoard of Peace,â an initiative created in the ceasefire agreement between the Zionist entity and the Palestinian resistance (an agreement that has been broken every day by the continued Zionist genocide against the Palestinian people), was declared to oversee the future of Gaza. This board of imperialist, neocolonial, and fascist oligarchs promises to turn Gaza into a Big Tech-managed concentration camp for Palestinians while securing massive real estate and military contracts for war and weapons corporations.
January also saw the return of outright regime-change attempts in Iran through a US and Zionist campaign to covertly arm provocateurs inside the country and plan for renewed airstrikes as they did in June 2025. Despite the failure to overthrow Iranâs government and win the people over to installing a US and Zionist backed puppet regime, US provocations continue to this day with a massive military buildup in the Persian Gulf and irregular threats by Trump of invasion.
In the US itself, Trumpâs fascist paramilitary troops of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) not only continue their violent campaign of ethnic cleansing against migrants within the US but have begun openly shooting at both migrants and solidarity protesters, killing a legal observer and a medic during protests in Minneapolis, USA. After a year of Trump returning to the White House, ICE has been drastically enlarged through a massive budget increase, the disappearance of any government oversight, and an openly white supremacist campaign to rapidly recruit anyone willing to arrest, deport, and even kill to enact Trumpâs fascist agenda.
These moves around the world are not the sign of an empire at the height of its power, but one in the death throes of its decline. Where once the US relied on a ârules-based orderâ of neoliberal free trade agreements to capture markets and exploit the working and peasant masses of the world with the help of its allies, it now resorts to tariff wars to flex against its economic competitors and blackmail any state going against its will by passing new arbitrary tariffs until they bow in submission. Where once the US gave high praise to its imperialist military alliances like NATO to put forward a false image of âcommon defenseâ, it now bullies its imperialist allies into drastically increasing their own military budgets while doubling down on its control of neocolonial puppet states who wage war on their own people and open their country up to complete US access to military posturing and economic plunder. As US rivals such as China and Russia grow and consolidate their power, the US fears to lose its own.
At the close of the first month of 2026, US imperialism may be more dangerous than ever, but that is because it is weaker and more vulnerable than ever before.
The Peoples of the World Rise and Struggle Against the Imperialist and Fascist Offensive
In cities, towns, countrysides, and across continents, the peoples of the world have continued to mobilize and organize their ranks to frustrate the US imperialist offensive and the upsurge of fascism in the wake of severe economic crisis.
The Bolivarian Revolution has not been defeated. The communes continue to operate, the government continues to wield sovereign power over its territory, and the effort of the US to overthrow the Bolivarian government has failed. Caracas has seen ongoing mass mobilizations in the millions of people demanding the return of President Maduro and First Combatant Flores. As the US uses the threat of continued attacks to push for economic control of Venezuelaâs oil industry and the Bolivarian government under acting President Delcy Rodriguez maneuvers to keep the industry in the hands of the people, the people make it clear in a united voice that their sovereignty is not for sale and they will defend it with their lives.
Demonstrations outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City where Maduro and Flores are being detained have expressed solidarity while taking the demand of the Venezuelan people directly to the belly of the beast itself. These demonstrations and letter writing campaigns to Maduro and Flores inside the detention center have worked to remind the two imprisoned leaders that the Bolivarian Revolution continues to burn in the hearts of the Venezuelan people and those who stand in solidarity with them around the world.
Street actions have been held around the world, carrying anti-imperialist slogans and solidarity calls with Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution. Many of these actions have drawn stark connection between the US offensive against Venezuela and its other imperialist and fascist actions in Palestine, Iran, and cities in the US under attack by ICE.
Workers strikes have been held in many different industries, especially shipping, to assert the power of the working class to shut down business as usual and put pressure on companies and governments to cease their support for the imperialist intervention and plunder being waged against the oppressed nations of the world. A planned series of dockworker shutdowns across Mediterranean ports to isolate the Zionist entity continues this trend of workers tying their own calls for better wages, safer work conditions, and guaranteed livelihood to solidarity with Palestine and other oppressed nations of the world.
Militant street actions have also been paired with advocacy and legal campaigns against the human rights violations and violations of international law by the US, such as the case being brought from Trinidad and Tobago against the US for murdering its citizens in cold blood while operating their boats near the coast of Venezuela.
And despite open threats from the worldâs most well-armed military in terms of technology, the people refuse to give up their right to armed resistance against the imperialist and fascist offensive. The peopleâs militias in Venezuela have remained organized and committed to defend their country against continued aggression by the US and its oil corporations. While this past month has seen continued threats against the Palestinian resistance to disarm and surrender, and ongoing strikes, murders and violations of ceasefire terms, the resistance in Palestine and around the world has upheld its promise to continue waging armed struggle against the machinations of the âBoard of Peaceâ and continued Zionist settlement expansion in Palestine. The other forces of the Axis of Resistance, including Iran, have equally refused to disavow their right to armed defense as well.
A Continued Month of Action for Peace, Sovereignty, and the Self-Determination of Peoples
One month ago today, the US tried to proclaim itself invincible with the kidnapping operation against Venezuelan President Maduro and First Combatant Flores. But every day of this past month has proven the US narrative wrong. Imperialism is not invincible, but vulnerable and desperate; the people are not docile and victimized, but are resolute in their struggle, and it is their power that is truly invincible.
The ILPS, the Resist US-Led War Movement, IWA, Bayan, and the Philippines-Bolivarian Venezuela Friendship Association stand with the people of Venezuela and the world at every stage of their struggles. In continuation of the month of action being waged by our members, we enjoin people of all countries to take to the streets, ports, countrysides, and all spaces with many other organizations taking action this February 3 to 6.
As we have expressed in our Universal Declaration of the Peoples of the World Against US Imperialism and for Peace, Sovereignty, and the Self-Determination of Peoples, âthe time has come to collectively assume the defense of our rights through unity, international solidarity, and the construction of our own agenda for anti-imperialist struggle and building a socialist alternative.
(ILPS)
