HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!

A United States military operation was conducted on January 3, 2026 which saw the invasion of more than 150 US aircraft inside Venezuelan sovereign territory escalating in the widespread bombardment of its northern region in the capital city of Caracas under accusations of drug-trafficking and narco-terrorism from President Donald Trump.

The New York Times reported over 40 casualties from US airstrikes, including both civilian and armed forces. The operation resulted in the illegal abduction of President Nicolas Maduro along with his wife Cilia Flores leaving a power vacuum in the government to be filled by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez who denounced kidnapping.

The Climate Change Network for Community-based Initiatives vehemently condemns the United States invasion of sovereign territory as it is a blatant violation of international law. It is explicitly stated in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter that all member states must refrain from utilizing force in order to threaten the political independence of any state.

Therefore, the blatant show of force is an act of armed aggression that must be condemned internationally. More importantly, the actions of the US is consistent with its long history of global imperialism and foreign interference in the affairs of developing nations in order to aggrandize their own public coffers and pilfer natural resources for their own production.

In the Philippines, centuries of colonization has left a permanent influence on the local affairs of our government. From bilateral defense treaties that pull us closer to wars of aggression to selling armaments to government authorities that repress the citizenry, the complicity of US Imperialism remains ever fervent in our nation.

As a close ally, our government remains silent in condemning the aggressive imperialist maneuverings of the US in fear of retaliation as our economy is shaped to serve US economic interests through neoliberal policies that incentivize the profiteering of our land, as well as its natural resources. The US government has openly stated that it will run Venezuela until it can achieve a "safe, proper and judicious transition" and vowed to fix its “oil-infrastructure.”

Reminiscent to our colonial history, the US, at present, still presents itself as a bastion of democracy and a champion of the people carrying out its “noble” mission. However, the US government does not even attempt to mask the intention behind its war aggressions, openly stating the self-aggrandizing nature of the bloodshed it perpetuates.

The US is a savior to only itself. It leaves developing countries to fend for themselves while it bolsters its own position in a show of global force. Behind every war of aggression it perpetrates in developing nations is a trail of rising emissions, human rights violations, and a ruined geological and ecological landscape that is plundered by US forces in service of its own industries.

Consequently, the US has an even longer history of dodging accountability for its crimes on the environment. As the historically largest emitter, it has remained largely absent in the global negotiating table in reducing climate emissions and is a prominent voice in barricading the reduction of fossil fuel as it threatens their profits.

Utilizing their international position and military resources, underlined by a neoliberal framework that places a primacy on profit, the global imperialism of the United States remains an active threat in the achievement of global security for small developing nations and climate justice. A threat that has grown to be far too large.

Its bloody conquest has inflated the arrogance of a nation that is infringing upon the sovereignty of an independent nation, believing that its superior position can grant them the privilege of dodging accountability once more.

We call upon the international community to join in solidarity with the Venezuelan people in order to hold to account the clear manifestation of US Imperialist greed that has violently sundered the sovereignty of their independent nation.

CCNCI calls for the interdiction of US international authority in the prevention of future interventionist policies in developing nations. More importantly, we call upon international solidarity to hold to account the environmental destruction left at the wake of these wars of aggression.