“Thousands of people converged under the slogan of ‘Venezuela without sanctions and in peace,’ demanding an end to all deadly US sanctions.”
By Sian Errington
May Day in Caracas this year saw the culmination of a 12-day mobilisation in opposition to the continued US economic blockade of Venezuela. Thousands of people converged in the capital under the slogan of ‘Venezuela without sanctions and in peace,’ demanding an end to all the deadly US sanctions on the country.
Orinoco Tribune reported that “Venezuelans have taken to the streets to denounce the impact of the sanctions on the people of the nation, underscoring that they do not simply affect the government but also directly affect the daily lives and livelihoods of every Venezuelan family.”
The correspondent added that “The atmosphere in Caracas reflects the culmination of a collective effort that aims to turn the fatigue from the miles travelled into a political and social force capable of driving a change in US foreign policy toward Venezuela, reaffirming sovereignty and the pursuit of a national consensus for peace.”
As written about in detail by many people previously, the impact of the ten-year offensive – where stricter and stricter sanctions against Venezuela have become a full-on blockade – has been severe. The country experienced a collapse in GDP and a period of hyperinflation, which led to the Government repeatedly seeking to increase the minimum wage and strengthen the ‘social income’ – direct state subsidies for water, energy and food – so those on the lowest incomes received protection from the soaring costs. Increased support for pensioners was announced on May Day in line with these measures.
In 2016, then-President Obama declared a “national emergency” in relation to Venezuela, incredibly deeming the country an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and used this as a pretext to dramatically increase the economic sanctions of Venezuela by the US. These were then greatly extended by Trump in his first term, maintained by Biden, before again initially being expanded on Trump’s return to the Presidency, prior to the illegal war earlier this year.
The purpose of the inhumane sanctions is to punish the population, including the undermining of social programmes, and is aimed at causing the Venezuelan economy to crumble. Even by 2019, a report from experts Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachs concluded that US sanctions “would fit the definition of collective punishment,” estimating that sanctions were responsible for 40,000 deaths in 2017-2018 alone.
As well as the economic blockade and its damage, January 2026 saw the extraordinary development of Trump’s deadly bombing of Venezuela, which killed over 100 people, and the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro by the US.
The cross-country mobilisations that met in Caracas on May Day had been characterised as a ‘national pilgrimage’. The mobilisation aimed to unite social and political actors across Venezuela behind the demand for the total end of the US blockade called for by the Government and progressive social movements, including Venezuela’s socialist trade unions. Their demand for a ‘Venezuela without sanctions and in peace’ highlights the need to end the US blockade and the release of resources being held by the US Treasury and other organisations such as the IMF and Bank of England, but also an end to all external intervention, of which the kidnapping of a President is a dramatic example.
May Day also saw demonstrations across Latin America and the Caribbean, including Cuba, against a backdrop of increased US hostility, threats and intervention.
In Britain, the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign will continue to support Venezuela’s right to determine its own future by both backing calls for the full ending of the US economic blockade and international campaigns against Donald Trump’s show trial of Nicolas Maduro.
- Join the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign here.
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