Street art depicting Nicolás Maduro, Simón Bolívar, and Hugo Chávez. Photo by Guaiquerí/Wikimedia Commons.

After more than two decades of coup attempts and destabilization efforts against Venezuela, the United States has escalated its campaign with direct, illegal, and unprovoked military strikes on the South American country. Explosions rocked Caracas in the early hours of January 3—by daylight, plumes of smoke rose over the capital. US bombing also targeted the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira, striking airports, residential areas, ports, military bases, and surveillance antennae. According to Venezuelan officials, the attacks have caused dozens of casualties.

Compounding the assault, the US military invaded Venezuela and kidnapped sitting president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in an operation involving “a joint force of over 150 aircraft and special operations teams.” The Trump administration now plans to try Maduro and Flores in New York on long-discredited narcotrafficking charges.

According to one report: “Data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime shows that Venezuela is not a cocaine-producing country, and last year’s U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration report on drug trafficking focuses on Ecuador, Central America and Mexico, with little emphasis on Venezuela.”

Nevertheless, Trump has claimed that “the illegitimate dictator Maduro was the kingpin of a vast criminal network… responsible for the deaths of countless Americans. Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil.”

France, Spain, Russia, China, and the European Commission have all stated that the US military’s operation against Venezuela broke international law. Regional leaders have also condemned the illegal bombing of Venezuela and the kidnapping of Maduro.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said, “The Colombian government rejects this aggression to Venezuela’s and Latin America’s sovereignty.” Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum issued an “urgent call to respect international law…and to cease any act of aggression against the Venezuelan government and people.”

Cuba condemned the US attack on Venezuela as........

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