In the early hours of January 3, 2026, the US launched a military attack on various facilities in and around the Venezuelan capital, resulting in the capture and removal of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

This military aggression was carried out under the “justification” of combating drug trafficking. For many decades, the US never took military action against Colombia or Mexico to capture any of the drug lords. The US's fight against drug trafficking is very accommodating and selective. And with this narrative, they once again mocked what bourgeois legality calls “international law,” making it clear that “law” is imposed by those who have the power to do so.

But it is clear that US imperialism is carrying out a series of operations as part of its confrontation with Chinese imperialism, particularly focused on trying to preserve its control and influence in the American continent, which, in addition to being a market for its products, represents an important source of raw materials, with Venezuela being a key player due to its vast oil and gas reserves and its deposits of gold, diamonds, and various minerals of strategic value. This was confirmed hours later at a press conference, where Trump openly and explicitly stated that the United States will “govern” and administer Venezuela on a temporary basis until an “appropriate transition” is achieved and, in this context, the US will take control of the oil infrastructure to “fix it,” as it considers it “totally ruined” after years of Chavista management.

Trump announced that major US oil companies (referring to them as “the largest in the world”) will enter Venezuela to invest billions of dollars in repairing wells and refineries, reviving large-scale production to “generate money for the country” and managing exports, noting that the US will sell “large quantities” of Venezuelan crude oil to other nations.

Trump assured that the military intervention and subsequent administration “will not cost U.S. taxpayers a penny.” According to him, the expenses will be reimbursed with the “money that comes out of the ground” (oil revenues), using the resource to cover the costs of the operation and reconstruction. He clarified that the total oil embargo on Venezuela remains in force and under strict control of his administration, ensuring that oil will not be allowed to benefit the previous government structure.

Following Maduro’s capture, the U.S. government is now communicating and negotiating with a new interlocutor (Delsy Rodríguez, the vice president, who now assumes the office of president) and addressing issues related to control of the oil business and a possible transition to a new government. It remains to be seen how Chinese imperialism, which has been exporting capital to the region and will need to protect its interests, will react.

Venezuelan workers, who survive on starvation wages and pensions, or are harassed by unemployment and informal work, must understand that this is a clash between two capitalist states and governments. Workers in Venezuela and around the world cannot mobilize to support imperialist action, defend the Chavista government, or support any of the options for government change that bourgeois democracy may present to them. This is a fight between the enemies of workers, between those who exploit wage labor. The only real way out is the resumption of the class struggle by workers in Venezuela and around the world, putting forward their main economic demands.

In Venezuela and in all countries, let us bring the struggles together in an indefinite general strike without minimum services.

From different countries, the only possible solidarity must be class solidarity, solidarity with the Venezuelan working class and its struggles. Calls for “solidarity with Venezuela” or “solidarity with the Venezuelan government” are nothing more than reactionary calls to defend capitalism, exploitation, and the bourgeoisie.

     No defense of the homeland, no alliances with the bourgeoisie!
     The working class has no homeland!
     The only way out of war is communist revolution!
     International unity of the working class!
     Let’s promote a Class-Based Trade Union United Front that mobilizes workers for their main socio-economic demands!