The People’s Health Movement (PHM) and ALAMES, together representing hundreds of social and health collectives, have joined global calls condemning US attacks on Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Like many progressive organizations worldwide, the networks rejected the claim that the Trump administration’s bombing of Caracas, which killed dozens, was part of a counter-drug trafficking operation, warning instead that the aggression represents a serious violation of international law and demands an urgent response on all levels.
“Its purpose is to appropriate the country’s oil, land, and other abundant energy resources, turn Venezuela into a neocolony, and maintain colonial and imperial domination in the region,” the organizations wrote in a joint statement. They added that the most recent US aggression was carried out with the intention of stifling “any possibility of national liberation and the autonomous construction of progressive social, political, and economic processes that dignify the lives of our peoples, in addition to strengthening the hegemonic position of the US in its dispute with China in the region.”
“We are confident that the people of Venezuela will resist imperial military intervention and defeat it once again, as they have done throughout their history since 1811, when they victoriously confronted the Spanish colonial empire and contributed their blood and leadership to the liberation of several republics in the region,” PHM and ALAMES wrote.
Read more: The United States attacks Venezuela and kidnaps its president in an illegal operation
Beyond the broader political significance of Venezuela’s resistance to US imperialism, PHM and ALAMES also emphasized that opposition to military aggression and occupation – as well as the defense of sovereignty and self-determination – is inseparable from the struggle for health. This link is particularly evident given the transformations undertaken in Venezuela’s health system since the administration of Hugo Chávez. As described in previous editions of PHM’s Global Health Watch, health under chavismo was positioned as a fundamental social right and a core responsibility of the state.
“The Bolivarian Revolution brought significant changes in favor of the Venezuelan people, especially the poor,” PHM Global Coordinator Roman Vega told People’s Health Dispatch. “Not only within the healthcare system, through initiatives such as the comprehensive primary health strategy Barrio Adentro, but also through the process of wealth redistribution that improved living and working conditions and expanded access to health services.”
This vision has persisted through the years, despite being severely threatened by US sanctions against Venezuela, Vega adds. “Now, these gains risk being further dismantled through US appropriation of the country’s natural resources, particularly oil, and the imposition of a colonial model of control that would serve the interests of the Venezuelan oligarchy and a small group of the world’s richest elites.”
If the Trump administration succeeds in its plans, Venezuela could meet the same fate as Haiti, Iraq, Libya, Palestine, and other countries where the US and its proxies have carried out military interventions, Vega warns. “This is why we must organize and mobilize together to defend Venezuela, as well as Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico, which have also been threatened by Trump with military intervention if they do not submit to imperialist demands,” he says. “This is a moment for united resistance by social movements across Latin America and the Caribbean, and this is exactly what PHM is promoting together with other social and political forces in the region.”
“At the same time, we need solidarity and mobilization from people around the world, and we will play a leading role in building this process,” he concludes. “US imperialism will be defeated through the collective effort of all those who believe that a world free from subjugation and exploitation is both necessary and possible.”
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch*. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click* here.
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