By Raúl Antonio Capote on January 4, 2025
Venezuelans condemn the imperialist attack against their country in the streets.
The actions unfolded exactly as predicted: a coup carried out under cover of darkness and with complete treachery. It was an operation directed against a legitimate government and a country that has never attacked another. If there is one thing the U.S. war machine excels at, it is precisely this type of incursion; they have vast experience, and history offers ample examples.
Since the beginning of 2025, the White House has significantly intensified its policy of “maximum pressure” against Venezuela. The strategy has shifted from economic warfare to military deployment and direct attacks against alleged drug shipments, all backed by large-scale intelligence operations. The public justification for these actions shifted: the worn-out rhetoric of “defending human rights and democracy” was replaced by accusations of narco-terrorism.
This narrative—which included a $50 million reward for President Nicolás Maduro and the fabrication of the Cartel of the Suns—was intended to camouflage the true motive behind the military deployment and the operation that was ultimately carried out. However, the objective had been clear for days; the aggressor himself had declared it without hesitation: “We’re going after Venezuela’s riches,” “our oil,” “our gold,” “our land.”
Just minutes after the attack, which lasted half an hour, US President Donald Trump gave his first statement after ordering the aggression against Venezuelan soil. With utter arrogance and contempt for international law, he claimed responsibility for the barbaric act. As the fog of war lifts, the details emerge: they employed electronic warfare devices to neutralize early warning radars, and subsequently, low-flying helicopters from nearby bases carried out the mission. They attacked tactically important targets with missiles, using some as a diversion for the main objective: the kidnapping of the president.
The civilians killed will be added to Pentagon reports under the cold euphemism of “collateral damage.” As the hours pass, the world mobilizes to condemn the aggression, but the most significant development is that Venezuela rises up. At this point in history, empires no longer need masks; they reveal themselves for what they are. Given this, the clarity necessary for the birth of a new world becomes imperative.
George Kennan, the influential advisor to President Truman, stated in the 1950s: “We will have to rid ourselves of sentimentality and nonsense.” Abandon vague and unrealistic goals like human rights, improved living standards, and democratization. The day will soon come when we will operate with straightforward concepts of power. The fewer idealistic absurdities that hinder our task, the better off we will be. For us, the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, the time has come for reckoning and united action, and we must march in close formation, like the silver in the roots of the Andes, as José Martí declared in Our America.
Source: Granma, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English