ATGENDER Statement of Solidarity with the People of Venezuela

ATGENDER strongly denounces the United States’ military assault on multiple targets in Venezuela on January 3, 2026. This act of armed aggression constitutes a blatant breach of international law and reflects a recurring pattern of U.S. interventions that erode the authority and credibility of the international legal framework.

The abduction of the presidential couple Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores for prosecution in the United States marks the culmination of a gradual U.S. military escalation in the Caribbean during recent months. Since September 2025, the United States has conducted 32 attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, allegedly in the name of counter-narcotics operations that resulted in the extrajudicial killing of more than 100 people.

What occurred in Venezuela is not only a dangerous precedent, but also just one more of the many U.S. military interventions carried out over the past year, including those in Iran, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and beyond. 

Despite the widespread protests challenging the legitimacy of Nicolás Maduro’s 2024 re-election and the repression endured by demonstrators at the hands of the regime, we maintain that democracy cannot be restored through imperialist military intervention. 

The Venezuelan people have the right to a democratic transition. However, this right does not absolve violent and unilateral actions that furthermore enforce the rule of the strongest for economic and geopolitical purposes.

During the January 3rd press conference, Trump proclaimed the reassertion of U.S. dominance, invoking the infamous Monroe Doctrine, which has long threatened the peoples of Central and South America. Immediately after the attack on Venezuela, the U.S. president further issued alarming threats toward other countries, stating that “Cuba is ready to fall” and describing Colombia as being governed by a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States” and who, he warned, would not remain in power for long. These declarations, in addition to the open violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty, are deeply alarming for the region. 

As board members of ATGENDER, we reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people impacted by the U.S. sanctions and recent military aggression, as well as with those who have suffered repression by the Maduro regime. We call international scholars and activists to denounce and condemn imperialist interventions in Venezuela as well as in every other part of the world.