DSA VENTURA COUNTY

Regime Change Isn’t Liberation

DSA Ventura County condemns the United States and the Trump administration for their illegal, imperialist attack on Venezuela. We also condemn the “opposition leaders” of the Democratic Party for their continued capitulation to, and collaboration with, this rogue administration. This unprovoked act of war marks a massive escalation in the long, disgraceful history of US imperialist interventionism in South America. DSA Ventura County stands in solidarity with the international working class, and will continue to support their right to self-determination in the face of imperial oppression. 

Many lies will be told in the effort to manufacture consent for Trump’s illegal and unjustified invasion of Venezuela. Lies about the United States acting in self defense, lies about this invasion being permissible under the law, lies that American Big Oil ownership of Venezuelan oil is better for the global economy, and lies that this invasion was done to displace a dictator and free the Venezuelan people. This fourth lie, that of liberation, will be the favored lie among opportunists and grifters who pretend they support the working class. The ruling class will use these lies to siphon our support for the global working class and redirect it in favor of imperialist aggression. It’s imperative that we stand in solidarity with our comrades by calling out this propaganda wherever we see it. We mustn’t allow each other to become tools for the ruling class to manufacture consent for continued exploitation of the global south.

Framing imperialist aggression as liberation is not a new tactic. It was used in 2003 by then-Vice President Dick Cheney when he said, “We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.” The resulting invasion of Iraq killed over 1 million people. In 2002, then-President George W Bush claimed American intervention had “freed the people of Afghanistan from one of the most repressive regimes in the history of mankind.” The United States remained in Afghanistan for 20 years, and one of the terrorist groups targeted by US forces is now the official government of Afghanistan. In 1965, then-President Lyndon B Johnson claimed America’s involvement in Vietnam was to defend the Vietnamese people from communist revolution in the North. As he phrased it, “We did not choose to be the guardians at the gate, but there is no one else.” The United States would go on to spend over 20 years in Vietnam and kill over 3.8 million people. The same recycled script used time after time to pretend there’s a humanitarian reason to invade sovereign nations is being used today, and the ruling class is hoping that we are naive enough to fall for it again; claims of liberation were lies then and it’s a lie now.

Some people will believe the lies. They’ll agree with right wing mouthpieces for the ruling class like House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who call Maduro a dictator and say Venezuelans deserve better. They’ll listen to capitalist propaganda mills like Fox News and CNN who will show you selectively chosen pictures and videos of Venezuelans celebrating, claiming this is what the people of Venezuela wanted. They will argue, “yes regime change has failed in the past and of course I agree it was wrong for Trump not to seek congressional approval, but Maduro was a dictator and he had to go! The people of Venezuela deserve to be free!” This response mirrors LGBTQ+ activist Leslie Feinberg’s statement of solidarity made at Aswat in 2007 regarding LGBTQ+ rights in Palestine:

“The discussion may not be an easy one—profound and lasting transformation rarely is—but those of us who defend your right to self-determination, your sovereignty, will defend the right of the Palestinian people to carry out their internal dialogue without Israeli or U.S. interference or political manipulation. […] Today we see how the imperialists—the U.S. to Israelis—use the experiences of women, of gays, of transgenders as pretexts for imperialist war. The white supremacist ideology replaces the colonial claim of “bringing civilization,” into imperialist claims that they are “bringing democracy.” But Washington and Tel Aviv have brought ruthless reactionary occupations to the Middle East.”

It is a fact that LGBTQ+ rights are not fully realized in oppressed states like Palestine, but we as socialists recognize that this does not justify imperialist aggression against Palestinians. Even if the claims of Maduro’s crimes against the Venezuelans were completely true, that does not justify the invasion of a sovereign country and the kidnapping of their leader and his wife. You cannot claim to support a free Venezuelan people while supporting a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty and the people’s right to self-determination. Before you can support the struggle for Venezuelans to exist as a free people, you must first support their struggle to exist as Venezuelans free from imperialist intervention.

We echo DSA’s calls for the following:

  • The return of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores to Venezuela
  • Immediate end to the war in Venezuela and an end to all US military violence
  • Total withdrawal of all US military assets from the Caribbean and an end to any operations with interventional purposes driven by SOUTHCOM
  • An end to the illegal unilateral sanctions against Venezuela and the use of unilateral sanctions anywhere in the world
  • An end to the failed “war on drugs” policy framework that has already led to massive loss of human life and environmental tragedies
  • The restoration of diplomatic relations with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
  • US foreign policy centered on peace, multilateralism, and respect for national sovereignty and self-determination. 

This is a lot, and what can you do? DSA Ventura County calls the people of Ventura County and the United States to:

We’ll see you in the streets, and at our next General Meeting January 22nd at 6pm! RSVP here for a zoom link. 

Solidarity forever,

The DSA Ventura County Steering Committee