Social organizations, political parties, trade unions and intellectuals from around the world have united behind a global manifesto demanding the immediate release of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, calling for their safe return to the country and an end to the legal proceedings against them in United States.
The manifesto states that President Maduro and the First Combatant Flores are innocent and have committed no crime, either in Venezuela or anywhere else, asserting that they were kidnapped by a foreign military force without any declaration of war and arguing that those responsible for the operation should instead be arrested and tried.
The document carries signatures from prominent figures including British musician and activist Roger Waters, Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, and João Pedro Stédile, a leader of Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST).
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Promoted by the ALBA Movements platform and the International Peoples’ Assembly (AIP), the document alleges that the Venezuelan presidential couple were victims of an kidnapping carried out on January 3 by a foreign military force that entered Venezuelan territory illegally. The signatories argue the operation violated the United Nations Charter and the immunity typically afforded to a sitting head of state, noting that it took place without an extradition request or authorization from the UN Security Council.
https://t.co/2CK38VwhGS pic.twitter.com/t3LOiP8Z8Q
— IGNACIO RAMONET (@IRamonet) October 1, 2026
The signing organizations contend that the criminal case against President Maduro and Cilia Flores in U.S. courts lacks jurisdiction and legitimate evidence, arguing that the underlying goal is to pressure Venezuela’s government and hold the President as leverage in exchange for access to Venezuelan oil. The manifesto further argues that the burden of proof should fall on Washington rather than on the defendants, asserting that the U.S. government has yet to substantiate its case and would be unable to do so without resorting to fabricated evidence.
Global Implications Cited
The document also criticizes what it calls the narrative built around the so-called “Cartel de los Soles,” describing it as a term used generically to justify political intervention, and argues that the treatment of Flores amounts to a case of politically motivated gender-based violence.
The statement frames the case as carrying implications well beyond Venezuela, warning that allowing one state to override another country’s legal jurisdiction and proceed with a trial lacking grounding in international law would effectively establish the U.S. judicial system as an unlimited global authority. To counter what they describe as an attempt at extraterritorial imposition, the signing organizations are calling on states and multilateral bodies to explicitly reject such a policy, demanding an end to what they characterize as aggression against Venezuela, the lifting of unilateral coercive sanctions, and a definitive halt to the use of the so-called war on drugs as a pretext for attacks and extrajudicial killings across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The organizations behind the manifesto have set up an email address (secretaria@albamovimientos.org.br ) to allow additional groups and intellectuals to formally endorse the document, signaling an effort to continue building international support for the campaign.
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) October 1, 2026
The appeal comes as the legal proceedings against President Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores continue to draw scrutiny, including the recent departure of the lead federal prosecutor overseeing the case, a development that has added further uncertainty to a trial scheduled to begin in mid-2027 in New York.
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