Venezuela's statement categorically denounces U.S. action as criminal aggression, framing the nation's resistance as a legitimate defense of sovereignty against imperialism.
Originally published in Cuba’s Representative Office Abroad.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, condemns, and denounces before the international community the extremely grave military aggression carried out by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population, targeting civilian and military locations in the city of Caracas, the capital of the Republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, particularly Articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of States, and the prohibition of the use of force. Such aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and places the lives of millions of people at serious risk.
The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, in an attempt to forcibly break the Nation’s political independence. They will not succeed. After more than two hundred years of independence, the people and their legitimate Government remain steadfast in defense of sovereignty and of the inalienable right to decide their own destiny. The attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a “regime change,” in alliance with the fascist oligarchy, will fail as all previous attempts have failed.
Since 1811, Venezuela has confronted and defeated empires. When in 1902 foreign powers bombarded our coasts, President Cipriano Castro proclaimed: *“The insolent foot of the foreigner has profaned the sacred soil of the Fatherland.”* Today, with the moral strength of Bolívar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise once again to defend their independence in the face of imperial aggression.
*People to the streets*
The Bolivarian Government calls upon all social and political forces of the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack. The people of Venezuela and their Bolivarian National Armed Force, in perfect popular–military–police fusion, are deployed to guarantee sovereignty and peace. Simultaneously, the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace will submit the corresponding complaints before the UN Security Council, the Secretary-General of that organization, CELAC, and the Non-Aligned Movement, demanding the condemnation of and accountability from the United States Government.
President Nicolás Maduro has ordered all national defense plans to be implemented at the appropriate time and under the appropriate circumstances, in strict accordance with the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Organic Law on States of Exception, and the Organic Law of National Security.
In this regard, President Nicolás Maduro has signed and ordered the implementation of the Decree declaring a State of External Disturbance throughout the national territory, in order to protect the rights of the population, ensure the full functioning of republican institutions, and immediately move to armed struggle. The entire country must be activated to defeat this imperialist aggression.
Likewise, he has ordered the immediate deployment of the Command for the Integral Defense of the Nation and the Bodies of Direction for the Integral Defense in all states and municipalities of the country.
In strict adherence to Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, Venezuela reserves the right to exercise legitimate self-defense to protect its people, its territory, and its independence. We call upon the peoples and governments of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the world to mobilize in active solidarity in the face of this imperial aggression.
As Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez Frías stated: *“In the face of any circumstance of new difficulties, of whatever magnitude, the response of all patriots… is unity, struggle, battle, and victory.”*
Caracas, January 3, 2026
The arrest and assault of Chris Smalls is about more than the repression of any effort to subvert the genocidal blockade on Gaza; it exposes Israel’s attempt to sever Black and Palestinian solidarity…
A study in The Lancet estimates that unilateral sanctions have caused as much death as wars, with an estimated half a million deaths per year.
Interview with Arnold August, writer, political commentator, and analyst of the North American continent, on the political situation in Canada and its relationship to the US.
The New York Declaration doesn't merely betray Palestine. It weaponizes the language of statehood to formalize the suppression of a people's right to exist without colonial rule.
Gambians from all walks of life – led by the youth-driven GALA movement mobilized across the country on July 23 in an anti-corruption protest as momentum for change grows.
