With Donald Trump increasingly threatening military attacks on Venezuela, a new emergency statement against war on Venezuela has been launched — backed by leading MPs, writers, trade unionists, and peace campaigners in Britain.
The statement has already been endorsed by MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Richard Burgon; trade union general secretaries Daniel Kebede (NEU), Maryam Eslamdoust (TSSA), and Gawain Little (GFTU); writers Tariq Ali and Victoria Brittain; and Britain’s leading anti-war organisations, CND and the Stop the War Coalition, among others.
Initiated by the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, it has also won the backing of a wide range of organisations in solidarity with Latin America.
Signatures from across the labour, peace, and progressive movements are being added all the time, and a fuller list of supporters will be released in the coming days.
EMERGENCY STATEMENT
We are deeply alarmed by the growing threat of a Trump-led war on Venezuela.
In recent weeks, a huge US naval fleet — including warships, bombers, and thousands of troops — has been deployed to the Caribbean, off Venezuela’s coast.
Trump has publicly confirmed authorising the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. Already, U.S. strikes on Venezuelan small boats — under the pretext of a “war on drugs” — have killed dozens of civilians. Now, Trump has ominously warned that “the land is going to be next.”
There are deep fears that US military intervention in Venezuela would be the first step in a wider military escalation by Trump in Latin America. The US has a long history of interference in the continent, where so-called “regime change” has caused widespread suffering and lasting harm.
Leaders across the region have opposed this military build up and any use of force or foreign intervention.
We reject this military escalation and call on all who stand for peace to say clearly: No to Trump’s war on Venezuela.