In the face of the escalating interference and militarization against Venezuela
The Latin American Sociological Association (ALAS) expresses its deep concern and strong condemnation of the escalation of interference, political, economic and military coercion actions promoted by the United States government against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and, by extension, against other nations of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The recent official statements by President Donald Trump and high-ranking US officials, the increased military deployment in the Caribbean, the armed attacks in international waters under the pretext of the “fight against drug trafficking,” and the announcement of a naval blockade of oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela constitute extremely serious events. These actions flagrantly violate international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the basic principles of peaceful coexistence among states.
We are not facing isolated events or short-term responses. Rather, this is part of a broader strategy to rebuild US power within a context of global hegemony crisis, unresolved internal tensions, escalating geopolitical disputes, and a deepening energy and climate crisis. In this framework, Venezuela has once again taken center stage as a strategic territory due to its vast oil reserves and other common resources, the appropriation and control of which serve the interests of fossil fuel capital, transnational corporations, and a foreign policy that increasingly relies on coercion and militarization.
It is especially alarming that representatives of the U.S. government have explicitly stated that Venezuela should "return" its oil, land, and other strategic assets to the United States. Such statements unambiguously reveal an unacceptable colonial ambition aimed at appropriating the common goods and natural resources of a sovereign nation, and disregard the inalienable right of peoples to freely decide on their wealth, their territory, and their development model.
From Latin America and the Caribbean, a region historically marked by military interventions, coups, economic blockades, unilateral sanctions and multiple forms of imperial domination, we categorically reject any attempt to impose changes of government, condition internal decisions or subjugate our peoples through military force, economic blackmail or the permanent threat of violence.
Venezuela's oil, gas, minerals, biodiversity, and all its common resources legitimately belong to its people. No foreign power has the right to claim them as its own, nor to use its military, financial, or technological superiority to exploit them for the benefit of transnational corporations or geopolitical interests that disregard the popular will and the collective well-being.
We warn that a naval blockade, as well as armed attacks or threats of the use of force, constitute acts of war that seriously jeopardize regional peace, the political stability of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the living conditions of millions of people. The deepening of militarization can only lead to scenarios of greater social suffering, destabilization, and conflict in a region that needs solidarity, political dialogue, and peaceful solutions to its structural problems.
We reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and with all the peoples of Our America who face policies of interference, sanctions, dispossession, and plunder of their resources. Latin America is not, and will not be, the 'backyard' of any power. It is a region of dignified peoples, with the right to sovereignty, self-determination, peace, and the collective defense of their common goods.
From Our America, we raise our voices firmly to affirm: no to war, no to the plundering of our resources, no to interventionist policies and imperialism in any of its forms.
Steering Committee of the Latin American Sociological Association
December 18th 2025
This text does not necessarily express the position of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
