Canada must condemn U.S. imperialist aggression and kidnapping in Venezuela

The Communist Party of Canada condemns in the strongest possible terms the criminal military attack launched by the United States against the sovereign nation of Venezuela. While many details remain unclear, what is unequivocally clear is that the bombing of Caracas and the kidnapping of the country’s president constitute a flagrant act of imperialist aggression and a grave violation of the United Nations Charter.

This assault, justified with cynical pretexts, represents a dangerous escalation aimed at seizing control of Venezuela and the region’s resources and crushing the right of its people to self-determination. It is an act of terror directed at the peoples of Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia and all of the Americas. This escalating pattern of lawlessness, which also manifests in attacks on Canadian sovereignty, nevertheless finds the Canadian government actively complicit.

The attack revives the most brutal traditions of the Monroe Doctrine, treating Latin America as a backyard for imperial plunder. While this objective has always defined U.S. strategy in the Americas, these barbaric tactics mark a new stage of lawlessness in Washington’s pursuit of imperialist hegemony. Trump’s claim that the U.S. is going to “run the country” of Venezuela “until a proper transition can take place” confirms that this attack is only the beginning of a deeper assault on Venezuelan sovereignty, making solidarity and action for peace urgently necessary.

The response of the Canadian government, articulated by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, is itself an attack on international law and provides direct political cover for Washington’s aggression. Her statement declares, “Since 2019… we have refused to recognize any legitimacy of the Maduro regime,” and “calls on all parties to respect international law.” By reiterating Canada’s pre-existing regime-change policy at the precise moment of an overt U.S. attack, Minister Anand’s formulation obscures the primary criminal act and serves as a de facto endorsement of U.S. piracy, murder, and kidnapping. Her words ignore the fundamental principle that all peoples have the right to determine their own political systems free from foreign intervention and military terror. The struggles for democratic and labour rights in Venezuela are the internal struggles of the Venezuelan people themselves. Canada, the U.S., and other imperialist powers must not be allowed to intervene.

This posture of the Canadian government is consistent with past policy. In the fall of 2025, when asked if previous U.S. missile strikes on boats violated international law, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand abdicated all responsibility, stating it was “within the purview of U.S. authorities” to make that determination. This remains Canada’s complicit position.

The aggression against Venezuela is part of a dangerous global trend, seen also in the ongoing genocide in Palestine and other acts of imperialist violence, which reflects the decline of U.S. imperialism economically and an increasing reliance in using barbaric military means. As international law is torn apart, the world is pushed closer to a wider, and potentially nuclear, war. Despite frequent attacks on Canada’s own sovereignty, the Canadian government is actively complicit in this drive, embarking on its largest militarization campaign since WWII at the behest of U.S. and NATO demands, while imposing austerity to shift resources from social needs to war spending.

The fight for Venezuela’s sovereignty is thus a front-line battle in the global struggle for peace and for the rights of working people everywhere. The Communist Party of Canada pledges to mobilize and calls on the labour movement, people’s organizations, and all peace-loving people to demand that Canada immediately and unequivocally condemn the U.S. attack, terminate its own sanctions on Venezuela, and pursue an independent foreign policy based on peace, disarmament, and solidarity.

Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada