Labor must condemn US aggression in Latin America
Supporters of peace, democracy and justice must demand that the Australian government call on the United States to stop its military intimidation and threats of intervention in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico, and immediately withdraw its military deployment throughout the region.
The maverick United States President Donald Trump has floated a number of illegal intervention plans, as well as saying he may also talk with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
For more than two months the US Southern Command has been targeting and killing predominately Venezuelan and Colombian civilians in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The US alleges it is engaged in an anti-drug trafficking operation in international waters, by going after small ships. On November 17, it killed three more people in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, bringing the number of deadly attacks since early September, to 21. More than 80 civilians have been killed.
No US agency or international body has produced evidence of drug production and distribution being concentrated in Venezuela, or linked to Maduro. And even if boats were carrying drugs, summary executions are still illegal.
The US State Department announced on November 17 it will designate Cartel do los Soles a terrorist organisation on November 24.
It accused Maduro of leading the cartel, which it said supplies drugs to the US and Europe. It added that such a designation will give it the right to strike inside the country, and it has given its military immunity from prosecution.
Trump has also threatened Colombia and Mexico with the same treatment.
The Venezuelan, Colombian and Mexican governments have rejected the US’ accusations, with the former saying it is winning the war against drug trafficking, especially since 2005 when it expelled the US Drug Enforcement Agency.
This week the US moved its most lethal aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, into the Caribbean Sea under the pretext of stopping the narcotics trade. “Operation Southern Spear” includes around 12,000 people on about 12 ships, the largest build-up of US firepower in the region in some time.
Maduro has publicly urged Trump to address his own country’s myriad social and economic problems, and stop intervening in Venezuela’s internal affairs. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has condemned Trump’s threats, as has Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
For decades Washington has considered it has the right to intervene in Latin American countries’ affairs. Venezuela has been a particular target ever since revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez became president in 1998; the US imposed crippling sanctions on the country in more recent years.
Meanwhile, Australian Labor has said nothing about the US’ illegal strikes or cautioned its ally about respecting countries’ national sovereignty, including those with which it disagrees.
Socialist Alliance calls on federal Labor to stand with the people of Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and the Latina American and Caribbean region. This requires demanding the US respect international law, lift the sanctions on Venezuela, and end its military deployment intimidation campaign in the region.
[This statement was adopted by the Socialist Alliance National Executive on November 20, 2025.]