The American Friends Service Committee released this statement on January 4, 2026 about Venezuela and related events:
“Early this morning, the Trump administration bombed several locations in and around Caracas and forcibly captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. This unjustified, illegal, and unprovoked act of war against a sovereign nation comes after months of U.S. escalation – including the extrajudicial assassinations of civilians on boats and the U.S. seizure of oil tankers near the Venezuelan coast. President Trump announced that the U.S. will “run the country” until some undefined transition—a path to indefinite occupation or a return to corporate control and colonial extraction.
The U.S. attack on Venezuela comes as the Trump administration revitalizes a long history of U.S. violence and imperialism against nations and people in Latin America. Like other wars before it, this is about control over oil and resources—Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. Congress and the international community must take immediate action.
Venezuela posed no threat to the U.S. But the U.S. wants Venezuela’s oil.
- The Trump administration doesn’t care about human rights and democracy.
- This isn’t about drugs.
- U.S. bombs and guns never bring peace and justice.
It is time to break this cycle. It is long past time to end the U.S. government’s imperial ambitions in Latin America and across the globe. People do not want endless wars, which lead only to mass death, forced migration, and impoverishment. We must work in solidarity with the Venezuelan people, upholding their self-determination and human rights. And we must honor those rights whether people stay in the country of their birth or migrate to the U.S.
We call on Congress and world leaders to stop U.S. regime change in Venezuela. We need investments in our communities and a safe and sustainable world where everyone can thrive.”