“Trump’s statements make it clear that the US intends to take control of Venezuelan oil revenues, which are the basis of the entire social programme underpinning the Bolivarian Revolution.”
By Adrian Weir, Campaign for Trade Union Freedom
The abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady, Cilia Adela Flores, represents a clear and present danger to the Latin American working class, their unions, and indeed the overwhelming majority of Latin American people.
This is an attack on Venezuelan sovereignty and constitutes a threat to all countries (including Cuba, Colombia, and Mexico) in Latin America and the Caribbean that assert their right to self-determination and who defend their sovereignty.
The reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine, originally said to be aimed at excluding European and other powers from the western hemisphere but in reality to give US capital exclusive rights over Latin America’s natural resources, fits in with the “angry tide” of newly emergent right wing leaders in Latin America, natural allies of Trump and willing collaborators with US imperialism.
In Venezuela and Brazil, previously in Ecuador, and elsewhere the nation’s resources have been used to fund social programmes for the benefit of the people; the “angry tide” will revert to neo-liberal models, economic policies that for the past forty-five years have facilitated the global transfer of wealth from working people to the super-rich and the corporate sector.
Leading the “angry tide” Argentinian President Milei’s central economic policy of “anarcho-capitalism,” an extreme variant of neo-liberalism has bankrupted the country which is now in hock to the US financially as well as being ideological bedfellows.
An essential and enduring feature of these policies is the restriction or even elimination of labour rights; usually a restriction on the right to organise, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike.
Trump’s statements make it clear that the US intends to take control of Venezuelan oil revenues, which are the basis of the entire social programme underpinning the Bolivarian Revolution, as well as the sector being the largest industrial employer with the strongest unions. We may anticipate a major assault on labour rights and even on labour activists in the sector.
This anticipated attack chimes with Milei’s agenda of saying that protestors should face either “prison or bullet.” He is also known to have the country’s women’s and environmental movements in his sights, just as the far-right Bolsonaro Presidency did in Brazil.
The US attack on Venezuela is no doubt also a precursor of great struggles to come across many sectors in many countries against an ideology that promotes authoritarianism, climate change denial, extreme austerity and social discrimination.
There are at least four union federations in Venezuela; dealing with the aftermath of the US attack has limited the scope for any possible united response. However, the President of the Chávista union federation, the Central Bolivariana Socialista de Trabajadores (CBST), Will Rangel says “The working class reaffirms its loyalty to the Bolivarian Government.”
Clearly the US has Cuba in its sights. For 60 years Cuba has been a beacon for others in Latin America showing that another world is possible. Control of Venezuelan oil, cutting off supplies to Cuba, is a blatant attempt to snuff out this light of the good example.
The “angry tide” is part and parcel of the trend towards right wing populism and authoritarianism that we are witnessing in Europe. Their fight against Trump and the “angry tide” is our fight; when all’s said and done, it is all part of the same struggle.
You can add your name to the call to oppose Trump’s war on Venezuela here.
- Adrian Weir is the Assistant Secretary of the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom.
- You can follow Adrian on Bluesky and follow the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom on Bluesky, Twitter/X and Facebook.
- ONLINE FORUM: Trump’s War on Venezuela – US Hands off Latin America! – 6.30pm Monday 19 January. With guests from across the globe on Trump’s war on Venezuela and the US agenda to control the entire region by force. Register here.
