No War in Venezuela! - Poster of the Week
- politicalgraphics
- Dec 5
- 3 min read
Venezuela: For The Right To Control Its Natural Resources
Photographer: Kampos
Designer: Alfredo Rostgaard
Organization in Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL)
Offset, 1975
Havana, Cuba
18491
CSPG's 50-year-old Poster of the Week highlights how oil has historically played a significant role in influencing Venezuela's position on the global stage. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. During the 1970s, Venezuela became a powerhouse of oil production and exports, particularly during the 1973 oil crisis when OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) Persian Gulf countries embargoed nations friendly to Israel. Venezuela did not participate in the embargo and profited enormously.
In 1976, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry. Although oil led to an economic boom in the 1970s, Venezuela’s overreliance on the industry weakened other vital sectors of the economy–as of 2024, oil export revenues made up 58% of the nation’s income, while its GDP shrank more than 70% from 2014 to 2024. When oil prices plummeted worldwide in 2014, Venezuela’s economy collapsed. President Nicolás Maduro, elected in 2013, made matters worse. Access to Venezuela’s oil remains a global interest.
The recent attacks on Venezuela by the Trump administration under the excuse of stopping drug trafficking should therefore raise suspicion. Since September 2nd, the U.S. government, without the consent of Congress, issued airstrikes on at least 21 boats in the Caribbean, killing at least 87 people. The most recent boat strike was followed up with a second strike that killed the two survivors. International law requires combatants to spare the lives of people attempting to surrender or otherwise unable to fight. The U.S. has not declared war, so it is unclear if it is a war crime, but it is nonetheless coldblooded murder.
The Trump administration claims it is fighting maritime drug traffickers from Venezuela, but they have not provided proof that any of these boats posed an actual threat. According to the U.S. government’s own data, Venezuela does not even produce or traffick the most drugs in Latin America. Fentanyl, used as the primary scapegoat for the Trump administration’s attack on Venezuela, is made almost entirely in Mexico.
It is clear that punishing drug traffickers is not a genuine priority for the Trump administration. Last week, Trump said he will pardon Honduras’ former president, Juan Orlando Hernández, who accepted millions of dollars in bribes from cocaine traffickers in one of the largest and most violent criminal enterprises that has ever been targeted by U.S. courts.
The unsubstantiated claims that Venezuela houses “terrorists” that threaten Americans loudly echoes the rhetoric used to invade Iraq over 20 years ago. With Venezuela’s large oil reserves and an authoritarian government led by Nicolás Maduro–a regime change courtesy of the U.S. government is possible. Trump acknowledged that he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela and gave Maduro an ultimatum to leave office or expect invasion by U.S. forces.
The Venezuelan people deserve democratic governance and economic stability, but U.S. invasions of other countries have never led to peace and prosperity for those peoples: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Palestine, Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Somalia, Chile, Cambodia …
We’ve seen this playbook before.
No war on Venezuela!
Stop extrajudicial murders overseas!
Stop U.S. imperialism!
Upcoming Protest: TOMORROW, Saturday December 6th
Voice your opposition to war on Venezuela by attending a peaceful protest in cities across the country tomorrow! Click here for a list of demonstrations.
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