Statement by the Executive Bureau of the Fourth International, 3 January 2026.
The Donald Trump administration has carried out a military air strike against surgical targets in Venezuelan territory, that is, bombing attacks on official buildings and military bases in the country. The event, unprecedented on the continent for almost three decades, constitutes a flagrant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty, of Latin America as a whole, in total disregard for international law.
During the early hours of Saturday, January 3, bombings and explosions in Caracas and two other states in Venezuela created a smokescreen to capture and kidnap President Nicolás Maduro, as Trump himself confessed on his Truth Social account. The president's fate has not yet been confirmed, much less whether and which internal sectors may have collaborated in Maduro's capture.
The uncertainty about the country's future makes it more urgent than ever for all progressive, democratic, socialist, and revolutionary forces to launch an international movement against imperialist aggression and for the Venezuelan people's right to decide their destiny autonomously and sovereignly. Regardless of one's opinion or position on the regime of the apparently deposed president, imperialist intervention is not a solution for the long-suffering people of Venezuela, the peoples of Latin America, or any of those oppressed by imperialism around the world. Such intervention has always been and continues to be contrary to their interests. It can only lead to death, repression, and injustice.
The necessary global campaign must include demonstrations and rallies in front of US embassies in every country, as a show of unity among the peoples against imperialist aggression, such as the present one.
The Fourth International stands in solidarity with the Venezuelan people and working class, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the military deployment that has maintained an immense US military force in the Caribbean in recent months. We demand the release of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Adela Flores – it is up to the Venezuelan people alone to elect and throw out their governments. We demand an end to the military aggression and respect for the territorial and political sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America!
3 January 2026