The Venezuelan government has condemned the U.S.’s seizure of an oil tanker off its coast as “piracy,” as President Donald Trump says that the U.S. is keeping the oil. In a statement, the Venezuelan government said the seizure “constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.” It added that the move shows that the U.S.’s recent aggression “has always been about our natural…
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Throughout 2025, the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela has faced growing and violent pressure from the United States, with President Trump’s administration deploying naval fleets in the Caribbean, ordering lethal and illegal strikes on suspected drug trafficking vessels departing from the Venezuelan territory—and, most recently, seizing a massive oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast. In response, Maduro has invoked emergency powers, mobilized militias, and signaled that his regime is preparing for military confrontation rather than compromise with the US, all while Trump and Maduro face waves of popular dissent and unrest within their own countries. In this urgent episode of Solidarity Without Exception, co-host Blanca Missé speaks with Venezuelan journalist and researcher Simón Rodríguez Porras about the decades-long path that has led us to the brink of war between the US and Venezuela, and about the need for working people around the globe to oppose Trump’s imperialist aggression and stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people without excusing or ignoring the political crisis within Venezuela itself.
Guests:
Simón Rodríguez Porras is a Venezuelan journalist, researcher, and editor at Venezuelanvoices.org.
Credits:
Pre-Production: Blanca Missé
Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Blanca Missé:
As the confrontation between the US and Venezuela intensifies, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment where international, working-class solidarity is very much needed. Across 2025, the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela has faced growing pressure from Washington with naval deployments in the Caribbean, lethal strikes, unsuspected drug trafficking vessels departing from the Venezuelan territory, and an escalating rhetoric of national defense from Caracas. In response, one US
President Donald Trump has threatened Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying in an interview on Tuesday that Maduro’s “days are numbered” and refusing to rule out a ground invasion of the country. Speaking to Politico, Trump said “I don’t comment on that” when asked if the U.S. would soon strike Venezuela, or if the U.S. would send troops on the ground. He went on to repeat…
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In recent months, the Trump administration has escalated a decades-long campaign against the Venezuelan government and people. The renewed, intensifying threats of regime change, justified through false or inflated claims that Nicolás Maduro, its president, is directing narco-terrorism against the United States, serve as a convenient pretext for deeper and more direct intervention.
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On Dec. 6, people across the United States marched. They protested. They carried banners: No war on Venezuela. No blood for oil. US hands off Venezuela. They chanted and waved Venezuelan flags.
Trump says he’s coming to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He’s promised it’s only a matter of time. The United States has amassed the largest military buildup in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
But according to a recent CBS poll, 70% of Americans are opposed to US military action in Venezuela. And over the weekend, those voices were loud. Marches against US military intervention. Against the ongoing US boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific. Against Trump rhetoric that claims to applaud peace, while carrying out and threatening violence at home and abroad—violence against Venezuela.
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Public outrage is mounting over the Trump administration’s September 2 “double tap” strike, in which the U.S. military bombed a small boat for a second time to kill the survivors of a first strike. This particular strike has garnered significant attention due to its clear violation of U.S. and international law because shipwrecked sailors should never be targeted. But it is crucial to note that…
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