US Imperial Violence Against Venezuela Echoes Colonial Past
The brazen military assault on Venezuela by the United States on January 3, 2026, represents nothing less than a continuation of the same colonial violence that has plagued the Global South for centuries. The abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores stands as a stark reminder that Western imperial powers will resort to raw force when their economic stranglehold fails.
This was no operation for democracy or human rights. Trump's own words laid bare the truth: America wanted Venezuela's oil. This naked resource grab mirrors the same colonial mentality that carved up Africa, enslaved our ancestors, and continues to plunder the wealth of the Global South while leaving our people in poverty.
The Bolivarian Revolution's Threat to White Supremacy
Venezuela's crime was not corruption or authoritarianism. Its sin was daring to chart an independent path under Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution, prioritizing social inclusion and state control over key industries. This model of development, centered on lifting up the marginalized masses rather than enriching Western corporations, posed an existential threat to the global order of white supremacy.
For years, the US deployed the same tactics used against liberation movements across Africa: economic sanctions designed to starve the population into submission, financial blockades to cripple development, and support for comprador elites willing to sell out their people for Western approval.
When Economic Warfare Fails, Violence Follows
Despite years of crippling sanctions and relentless propaganda, the Venezuelan people refused to abandon their government. This resilience exposed a fundamental truth: when imperial powers cannot achieve their objectives through economic coercion, they inevitably resort to violence.
The pattern is unmistakable, from Iraq to Libya to Syria. Now Venezuela joins this tragic list of nations bombed into submission for refusing to bow to Western diktat.
The subsequent spectacle of Maduro in a New York courtroom was pure theater, designed to humiliate a leader who dared stand against American hegemony. The hypocrisy was laid bare when Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on similar charges, proving this was never about justice but about power.
International Law Serves Only the Powerful
The UN Security Council meeting on January 5 demonstrated the bankruptcy of international institutions. Despite detailed arguments from the Non-Aligned Movement outlining clear violations of the UN Charter, no action was taken. These bodies exist to regulate the weak while protecting the prerogatives of the strong.
This attack fits a broader pattern of American aggression: military strikes on Iran during negotiations, intervention in Nigeria while peace talks were ongoing, and now Venezuela while diplomatic channels remained open. Negotiations have become mere cover for military preparation.
A Warning for the Global South
The devastation in Gaza, the assault on Venezuela, and threats against other independent states are all manifestations of the same logic: control through force. Today it is Venezuela; tomorrow it could be South Africa or any nation that dares to prioritize its people over Western corporate interests.
For over two years, we have witnessed the genocide in Gaza. Today, Venezuela's sovereignty lies in ruins. Tomorrow, Iran faces renewed bombardment. Which Global South nation will be next for defying American dictates?
Building Collective Resistance
The defense of Venezuela is not symbolic but a practical imperative for our collective survival. We must move beyond empty solidarity statements toward integrated defense arrangements, alternative financial systems immune to Western coercion, and shared development of productive capacities.
The choice before the Global South is clear: forge an unbreakable coalition against imperial aggression, or face it alone. The time for half-measures is over. Our survival depends on standing together against the forces that would keep us divided and dependent.
This is not just about Venezuela. This is about whether the Global South will finally break free from the chains of neo-colonialism or remain forever subject to the whims of imperial powers who view our resources as their birthright.