To the People and Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,

To the Pueblos of Nuestra América,

To Mexican and Latin American Workers Who Reside Within the Political Borders of the North American Empire,

Unión del Barrio, an organization of Mexicans, Latin Americans, and comrades who align with our struggles living within the political borders of  the U.S., condemns the blatantly illegal, cowardly, and terroristic bombing of the sovereign territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the kidnapping of its President, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and First Lady Cilia Flores. This act constitutes a grave violation of international law, illegal even under United States law, and is utterly contrary to the declaration of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

We join the majority of Venezuelans and dignified people across the world in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of President Nicolás Maduro Moros and First Lady Cilia Flores, with respect for their physical and psychological integrity, and their return to Venezuela. We denounce the ongoing U.S. aggression and unilateral war against Venezuela, including economic sanctions and piracy of Venezuelan assets; media campaign of lies and psychological warfare; bombardments and direct military aggression. We reject the colonial goal of “regime change” and the attempt to undermine the Constitutional order of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The cowardly and arrogant attacks by the United States, including the murders of civilians on fishing boats and within Venezuelan territory, and the kidnapping of a democratically elected leader, with the brazen aim of “taking control of oil and natural resources,” are the actions of a rogue state that constitute crimes against humanity. These heinous acts stand out among the long list of imperialist interventions used against the Homeland of Bolívar and Chávez, and against La Patria Grande in a broader context.

Hoping to reimpose their barbaric hemispheric hegemony over the countries of Nuestra América, U.S. imperialists intend to achieve their political and economic objectives by intimidating the world’s governments. Having suffered through dozens of nefarious interventions, blockades, invasions, and coups rationalized by colonial fascist Monroeist doctrines, the peoples of Nuestra América are intimately familiar with the terrorism currently deployed against Venezuela.

Our working-class communities across the United States are also the primary targets of a brutal campaign of mass terror and criminal kidnappings conducted by this administration’s domestic immigration agencies (ICE and Border Patrol) and heavily armed federal troops. The vast majority of recently arrived workers currently within the political borders of the U.S. have migrated to escape the imperial sanctions and neoliberal colonial/capitalist modes of production imposed by the U.S. across Nuestra América. These domestic policies serve the interests of the same small groups of political and financial elites who also profit from U.S.-sponsored military interventions and coups throughout the hemisphere.

We call on our communities across the U.S. not only to reject blatant lies coming from the rogue MAGA regime, but to also reject liberal-imperialist slanderers who seek to align themselves with right-wing charlatans and opportunists seeking to broker the theft of Venezuela’s resources. We must push back against the serious threats against Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia, and express our condolences to the victims of the January 3rd incursion, including the 32 Cuban combatants whose lives were taken by the U.S. corporate mercenaries.

Our barrios across the U.S. are confronted with a difficult reality – while living under the constant threat of violent immigration raids, we must get organized to defend our homes and our families, build a movement for self-determination and peace in Nuestra América, and oppose imperialist wars and genocide. This work is as much pedagogical as it is organizational – rooted in the moral clarity of defending our barrios from violent attacks, it grows into anti-colonial class consciousness with other oppressed groups in the U.S., and it is consolidated through our principled support for working-class people throughout Nuestra América, in particular, the heroic people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and their Participatory Democracy where the working class, campesinos, indigenous peoples, and popular majorities are the owners of their labor and their natural wealth.

¡No a La Guerra Por Petróleo! ¡Consciencia, Unidad, Lucha y Victoria!

¡Maduro Aguanta, El Pueblo Se Levanta! ¡Viva La Revolución Bolivariana de Venezuela!

¡Chávez Vive – La Lucha Sigue!

Unión del Barrio

January 6, 2025