Statement from the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSL) from Venezuela
On January 3, the government of far-right Donald Trump carried out a criminal attack against our country. As a result of the military operation, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were kidnapped, an act that we condemn. That day, a true massacre took place. More than 100 people were killed, some of them civilians, and a similar number were wounded, although these figures may increase in the coming days. The criminal action of US imperialism had been encouraged and promoted for months by María Corina Machado and other representatives of the Venezuelan bosses’ opposition.
With his first statements after the invasion of Venezuela, it has become clear that Trump is only interested in the country’s oil and other resources, the massive naval deployment and bombings in the Caribbean and the Pacific were never really about drug trafficking. The United States is not interested in democratic rights, nor in the freedom of political prisoners, nor in the wages and living conditions of the Venezuelan people.
This attack is the expression of a global counteroffensive deployed by Trump, who is attempting to reverse the economic and hegemonic domination crisis of the US in the context of the global crisis of imperialist capitalism. Far-right Trump seeks to make “America great again,” as he said in his speech upon taking office in January last year, which he has so far been unable to achieve.
After the military intervention in Venezuela, Trump said there could be a second attack on our country if the Venezuelan government, led by interim President Delcy Rodríguez, did not comply with his demands. He said he now controlled the country and would direct its oil trade. At the same time, he also threatened Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and Greenland.
The Socialism and Freedom Party rejects the United States’ plan to recolonize our country and control the exploitation and commercialization of oil, within the framework of the revival of the Monroe Doctrine and its Trump Corollary. Last Friday, it was shameful to see the CEOs of the major transnational oil companies meeting with Trump at the White House, deciding the fate of our oil.
We warn of the danger of a pact between Trump and the Venezuelan government
We have no confidence in the current government headed by Delcy Rodríguez, just as we had no confidence in Maduro or Chávez before. What we are seeing are clear signs that the current Chavista government is willing to comply with Trump’s demands. Shortly after Trump announced that Venezuela would deliver between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil, PDVSA announced that it is in negotiations with the US to sell it “volumes of oil,” which would be in line with Trump’s statement. On the other hand, steps are already being taken to reestablish diplomatic relations with the US when what would be appropriate would be to break off all relations with the US and affect its interests in Venezuela. Just six days after the brutal attack by the US, a delegation of US officials arrived in the country and went to the embassy in the Venezuelan capital. It has even been reported that there is a possibility that Delcy Rodríguez will meet with Trump.
What is at stake now, given the danger of a pact between the government and Trump, is greater US control and influence over Venezuelan oil. In Trump’s own words, the plan is to increase production in order to lower the price of oil on the market, a price that was already falling. That is why we reject any pact with Trump. We must be categorical: if a pact is made with imperialism, there will be more misery and plundering of our resources and no benefit for the working people.
No one can have positive expectations of this imperialist aggression and the plans for colonial domination of Venezuela. There is a long history of US military interventions on our continent and in other regions, which have only left a trail of death, destruction, and greater subjugation to imperialism and its big corporations. There will be no benefits or better wages with the US and its transnational corporations. They care little about the needs of working people.
It is not Trump, a far-right politician, nor the transnational oil companies that will solve our problems. On the contrary, they would only deepen the exploitation and destruction of our natural common goods. Only through our patient organization, our struggle, and mobilization in every workplace, school, and community can we recover our rights and attain our main demands.
Chavismo always made deals with transnational corporations
It is important to remember that transnational corporations never left Venezuela. In 2007, Chávez associated transnational oil companies with PDVSA through the creation of joint ventures. Chevron, Repsol, Shell, Total, China National Petroleum, and Petrobras entered into this agreement, followed by Mitsubishi, Lukoil, Gazprom, and Rosneft. The only companies that did not enter into the joint venture agreement were Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips, because they decided to leave. In 2010, Chávez granted transnational corporations several blocks of the Orinoco Oil Belt, the world’s largest crude oil reserve, thus deepening the surrender of our oil.
Agreements were also reached in other economic sectors such as food, telecommunications, and banking, including companies such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Movistar, DHL, Citibank, and large national businesses such as the Cisneros Group.
Between 1999 and 2014, Venezuela received more than $960 billion from oil exports. Very little of this vast amount of resources reached workers and the popular sectors. Only some welfare policies and the Misiones (missions) were implemented, which eventually faded away. Most of that money went to shady deals and corruption, arms purchases, and contracts with large transnational corporations. We discussed all of this in a book we published in 2018 entitled “Why did Chavismo fail? A balance-sheet from the left-wing opposition.”
The PSL and our revolutionary socialist current led by Orlando Chirino and José Bodas, protagonists of the struggle against the coup d’état and the bosses’ strike against President Chávez in 2002, always opposed this policy and fought for 100% state-owned oil under workers’ management and control, and we fought for a true socialist solution and a government of the workers and the people.
This demand continued facing Maduro, who always agreed to make deals with the US and its transnational corporations. In fact, on more than one occasion, he approached the US government and even investors from other parts of the world, offering them our oil wealth.
In June 2024, Nicolás Maduro invited foreign capitalists to invest in the oil sector. On that occasion, he said: “Investors from the US, Asia, Africa, all of Latin America and the Caribbean, from all over the world, should know that Venezuela is a place of opportunity and that investments are guaranteed to grow and provide guarantees and energy security to the international market.
We call for the rejection of any pact with US imperialism
We must mobilize for an emergency increase in wages and pensions, equal to the basic basket of goods. No more austerity for working people! No more wage bonuses! Let’s discuss collective bargaining agreements; for the right to strike and freedom of association; for the full freedom of political prisoners, including those who have already been released, freedom for those imprisoned in the context of the protests against electoral fraud in July 2024.
Let’s speed up the release of prisoners announced by Jorge Rodríguez. We especially demand the release of workers detained for mobilizing, for denouncing corruption, or for political reasons, as is the case of more than 120 oil workers who remain detained, and that they be reinstated in their jobs. Immediate reinstatement of those dismissed with payment of back wages. An end to repression and persecution. Immediate lifting of the state of emergency decree! Reopening of media outlets that were shut down. Full political rights for working people. Legalization of left-wing and democratic political parties. We demand 100% state-owned oil, without joint ventures or transnational companies; progressive taxes for all transnational companies and large national companies, and that all this money be used for wage increases, health, education, and food and medicine production.
We call for the rejection of any pact with US imperialism. We demand that the government of Delcy Rodríguez, instead of negotiating with the US, call on the presidents Petro of Colombia, Lula of Brazil, and Sheinbaum of Mexico to promote a great continental and global mobilization against Trump’s attempts to impose a plan of subjugation and control on Venezuela, and to follow the example of many countries where there have been mobilizations rejecting the US invasion and in solidarity with Venezuela.
Originally in Spanish at UIT-CI.org