In B in B «The Red Book» The Anti-Imperialist Collective of Scientists (AICU) is considering the current US attack against Venezuela in the broader context of the anti-imperialist struggle in the Americas.

Source source: https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/the-terms-of-struggle-in-venezuela-imperialism-vs-sovereignty/

The series «The Red Books» The Anti-Imperialist Collective of Scientists (AICU) considers current issues of our time with a sense of urgency and fundamental clarity. We are at the forefront of the Battle of the Ideas and use anti-imperialist methodology to clarify the stakes, sharpen the contradictions, challenge propaganda and defend the Resistance.
We, the Anti-Imperialist Collective of Scientists (AICU), condemn in the strongest terms the US imperialist attack against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The United States abducted President Nicolas Maduro and First Fighting Friend Silia Flores on January 3, 2026, in a blatantly criminal violation of international law, while committing a violent assault on the sovereignty of Our America. We stand firmly on the side of the Venezuelan people and their revolutionary Bolivarian State, defending their sovereign right to self-determination. We unequivocally recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president and demand that the U.S. government release him and Flores’ First Fighting Friend immediately. As an organization committed to fighting U.S.-led imperialism and supporting the sovereignty and national liberation of the Global Majority, the AICU is calling on anti-imperialist forces in the U.S. and around the world to unite in defense of President Maduro and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

In the B. «The Red Book» 1 AICU gives a critical analysis of the current US attack on Venezuela, demonstrating that it must be understood as an existential conflict between US imperialism and the sovereignty of the peoples of the Americas.

Introduction: Two Fronts of the Imperialist War

The U.S. is waging war on Venezuela at two interrelated levels. First, this war represents a new escalation of decades on. «counter-revolutionary» attacks on revolutionary forces and states in the region that have eliminated imperialist ownership structures. (1) Second, this war is an escalation of U.S. imperialism’s attempts to weaken and subdue architects and supporters of the emerging polycentric world order, in which the U.S. will no longer be the only hegemonic superpower. (2) These two are «The front line» The US imperialist war is interrelated. The fragmentation of alliances promoting a polycentric world order creates a necessary condition for isolating and destroying the sovereign development projects of the revolutionary states of the Americas. These projects are marked for destruction as they represent an existential challenge to US imperialism. They violate the ability of capital in the imperialist core to overexploit labor and dominate resources, while challenging the defining basis of imperialist power: control over the flows of resources and capital between territories.

The attack on Venezuela and the intensification of the Trump regime’s military preparations have sparked a wide range of criticism and opposition. However, the conditions of this opposition often risk delegitimizing the Venezuelan state. — and thus support the goals of US imperialism. In particular, there is a return to the register of anti-war opposition, which postulates a fundamental difference between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the general category of Venezuelans. «People of the people». . . . At best it's a self-destructive move, at worst. — Participant. It is impossible to protect «The Venezuelan people»concurrently agreeing with the imperialists to delegitimize the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela «The dictatorship». . . . Under attack is not a general category «The Venezuelan people»A specific state formation structured around the reorientation of national resources to the service of national development, not the appropriation of imperialist wealth. Delegation of this state structure — It means laying the groundwork for legitimizing US imperialist interventions. The question of the legitimacy of an anti-imperialist state, especially by imperialist forces, should never serve as a basis for violating its state sovereignty.

As imperialist forces sow confusion, it is imperative that we be clear why Venezuela was attacked and act with a principled commitment to defending its sovereignty. It is a war against a revolutionary state that has challenged imperialism by reclaiming itself. «internal internal». . . and so on. «external externalities» It has built a sovereign national development project and established sovereign international relations with other anti-imperialist states.

Socialism with Bolivarian characteristics: Sovereignty over resources, community power and people's defense

In the late twentieth century, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela emerged as a revolutionary challenge to the fundamental foundations of US imperialism. The Bolivarian Republic deepened and strengthened Venezuela’s sovereign-people ownership of its own resources, regaining control of its oil wealth from U.S. corporations such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. [3] Subsequently, it directed its oil wealth to sovereign national development projects[4] as well as to regional and international mechanisms. «South-South»[5] that fundamentally challenge the dependent relationships that have held the states of the Global South in the grip of the US-led imperialist order.

The formation of communes was at the center of sovereign national development projects promoted by the Bolivarian Republic. Growing up from the historic social missions launched by President Hugo Chavez in 2004 (which have virtually eliminated illiteracy thanks to illiteracy). *Misión Robinson* and created a nationwide free public health system through *Misión Barrio Adentro*By significantly reducing poverty, the commune project advanced the revolutionary process to what Chavez called «Community Socialism». . . . [6] [6] In these structures, grassroots communities regulate, manage resources and means of production. Forged by the economic blockade of the United States and imperialist hybrid warfare, the communes now collectively control productive resources in close coordination with the state. They played a central role in mitigating the harmful effects of sanctions, meeting the urgent needs of communities and promoting food sovereignty. [7] [7] Even under a growing U.S. attack, President Nicolas Maduro’s government deepened the state’s commitment to communes by launching a new strategic plan in November 2025 based on more than 36,000 proposals for nationwide counselling aimed at strengthening national unity and resilience. [8] [8]

The same communal infrastructure that sustains daily life under siege also forms the material and organizational basis of Venezuela’s national defense. In December, drawing on the power of grassroots communes, the Bolivarian National Militia activated the Nicolás Maduro doctrine. «Guerra de Todo el Pueblo» ?«War of the whole people»), distributing rifles and other weapons to millions of civilians. [9] Target of the militia — Involve the entire Venezuelan people in national defense against imperialist aggression. Maduro warns that any large-scale U.S. invasion will face «new Vietnam» — A protracted campaign of guerrilla warfare characterized by cascading attacks followed by withdrawal emanating from compact urban areas, formidable mountains and vast jungles. While the U.S. military retains enormous disruptive technological capabilities, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is incapable of waging such a land war. By their own admission, they have not trained in tropical conditions for decades, having only recently revived their training program. «jungle warfare» Panama for the first time in more than 20 years.

It is the popular basis of the Bolivarian Revolution, renewed and forged through the communes and the National Militia, that underlies the legitimacy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. «Quality basis» The sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic is the empowerment of indigenous, Afro-Venezuelan peoples and workers, and the reorientation of the country's lands and resources to serve a popular form of national development that meets the needs of all its peoples. This qualitative strength gives the Bolivarian Republic its greatest source of legitimacy and deepest strength in its resistance to US imperialism.

Venezuela against US imperialism

It is this combination of sovereign development, popular power, and territorial defense that the US-led capitalist imperialist world order could never accept. Capitalist imperialism requires a constant outflow of cheap resources and goods from the periphery to the imperialist nucleus as a means of stabilizing class relations in the nucleus and appropriating surplus value from the periphery. [10] [10] Historically, imperialism has set the conditions for such appropriation through military force and the imposition of economic dependence on the peripheries. Again and again, when the peoples of the imperialistly subordinate Global Majority sought to regain their sovereign right both to their territories and to the flow of economic capital in and out of their territories, they were subjected to imperialist war and economic sanctions. [11] [11] This is the fundamental rule of the capitalist imperialist system, as seen in the example of the economic war and blockade imposed on Haiti in the XIX century, Cuba in the XX century and now Venezuela in the XXI century.

The emergence of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has become even more threatening to the US imperialist order, as it is a key insurgency challenge. «lateness» The Washington Consensus that the US sought to impose on the entire planet at the end of the twentieth century. The structural adjustment programs that the United States imposed across the Global South destroyed national economies, undermined social reproduction opportunities, and thus created vast reserves of cheap labor and resources for exploitation and appropriation by the imperialist core. [12] But what U.S. imperialism did not foresee at the time was the strength of the anti-imperialist challenge that would be posed to the IMF-World Bank neocolonial program. Among the key challenges were: the anti-IMF movement «caracaso» Venezuela, which led to the Bolivarian socialist revolution and the rise of communes;[13] Venezuela's energy program «petrokaribe», which used the country's oil wealth for the socio-economic development and integration of Caribbean countries;[14] the resilience of the Cuban socialist revolution in the face of the collapse of the Soviet Union;[15] the program «lavalas» Haiti, demanding reparations and higher wages;[16] the struggle in Zimbabwe that led to the return of stolen land by dispossessed Zimbabweans;[17] the anti-privatization water wars in Bolivia that led to the rise to power of the Movement for Socialism (MAS);[18] and the second Palestinian intifada that led to the crisis of the Oslo framework of the Washington Consensus. [19] The U.S. has consistently sought to eliminate

Over the past twenty-five years, U.S. imperialism has attempted to carry out coups and impose punitive economic sanctions as a means of overthrowing the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Among long-standing US targets — Deprive Venezuela of sovereign control over its oil wealth and transfer it instead to U.S. oil giants, including through ongoing demands that Venezuela pay off. «compensation» The nationalization of its oil industry. Instead of collaborating with Venezuela’s increasingly sovereign oil sector, U.S. oil giants have stepped up the legal war by aggressively suing Venezuela for so-called "secure" oil. «lost assets» He demanded compensation for the nationalization of oil in 2007. [20] This claim for compensation to the expropriator — colonialist, imperialist — In combination with sanctions against national liberation projects, it is a structural feature of imperialism. The roots of colonial-imperialist «compensation» the blockades imposed on Haiti and Cuba, which demanded to compensate the colonial owner n «loss»The people of Haiti and Cuba regained sovereignty over their territories and lives. [21] Similar demands were made by Zimbabwe earlier this decade. [22] But what is at stake today is not only control of resources and colonial-imperialist compensation, but also control of the country’s financial flows, as financial capital seeks to dominate future income, debt, and collateral flows.

However, the United States has repeatedly failed in its attempts to destroy the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The first Trump administration launched a campaign of sanctions «maximum pressure»This led to a severe economic crisis in Venezuela. [23] Its GDP contracted by almost 90% between 2013 and 2020, resulting in 40,000 deaths due to the devastating impact of the sanctions regime on Venezuela’s public health system. [24] The economic crisis also triggered massive economically motivated emigration from the country. The Venezuelan state has not only withstood the sanctions campaign, but has achieved a small degree of economic recovery in recent years. In fact, Venezuela is projected to lead Latin American GDP growth in both 2024 and 2025. [25] It is in light of the failure of the U.S. sanctions regime to achieve its objectives of regime change and complete submission that we should consider a transition to military force against Venezuela. This latest wave of US imperialist intervention seeks to wrest concessions from the Venezuelan state — In particular, access to its oil and mineral wealth n — and limit its independent, solidarity-based South-South international relations. The attack on Venezuela is motivated by the same strategic objectives that led to the US attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran last summer. In both cases, the US sought to destroy a sovereign state that provided regional economic or military-strategic depth to anti-imperialist forces.

However, the United States has repeatedly failed in its attempts to destroy the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The first Trump administration launched a campaign of sanctions «maximum pressure»This led to a severe economic crisis in Venezuela. [23] Its GDP contracted by almost 90% between 2013 and 2020, resulting in 40,000 deaths due to the devastating impact of the sanctions regime on Venezuela’s public health system. [24] The economic crisis also triggered massive economically motivated emigration from the country. The Venezuelan state has not only withstood the sanctions campaign, but has achieved a small degree of economic recovery in recent years. In fact, Venezuela is projected to lead Latin American GDP growth in both 2024 and 2025. [25] It is in light of the failure of the U.S. sanctions regime to achieve its objectives of regime change and complete submission that we should consider a transition to military force against Venezuela. This latest wave of US imperialist intervention seeks to wrest concessions from the Venezuelan state — In particular, access to its oil and mineral wealth n — and limit its independent, solidarity-based South-South international relations. The attack on Venezuela is motivated by the same strategic objectives that led to the US attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran last summer. In both cases, the US sought to destroy a sovereign state that provided regional economic or military-strategic depth to anti-imperialist forces.

US Imperialist Attack on Venezuela Was Defined as Incarnation «Trump's investigation into the Monroe Doctrine»The National Security Strategy of the United States 2025. [26] Essentially, the revival of the Monroe Doctrine is focused on expelling what it defines as «nonhemispheric rivals» — China, Russia and Iran — from the Americas and the reconsolidation of the region under full spectrum US domination. [27] The Trump investigation is based on the claim that «hemispheric» threaten both regional prosperity and U.S. power, and their removal and replacement by a full-spectrum U.S. «leadership» It will benefit the economic development and security of the region. What the attack on Venezuela reveals, however, is that the Trump investigation is primarily concerned about these issues. «nonhemispheric rivals» Because of their role in giving Venezuela and other states in the region more space to build and sustain sovereign development projects. Sovereign development promotes the use of national resources for national development and thus threatens the reproduction of cheap labor and resource pools for appropriation by capitalist imperialist methods of accumulation.

A clearer understanding of the relationship between sovereign development and the region’s involvement in the emerging polycentric world order can be obtained by recalling the key role played by these so-called "sovereign development". «hemispheric» Consolidation of the gains of the Bolivarian Revolution. After the Bolivarian Revolution, the Venezuelan state identified deepening relations with non-Western powers as central to reducing its dependence on American investment and export markets. [28] This strategy has become particularly relevant since Venezuela deepened the nationalization of its oil sector in 2007. Western capital, as mentioned above, refused to accept nationalization, and instead sought to challenge it by suing for nationalization. «compensation» and actually «capitalist strike»withdrawing investment from the country. [29] While such measures have historically been used by the imperialist powers to extract concessions from the peripheral states after independence (i.e., the capitalist strike will be stopped only after the target state retreats from its nationalization program), Venezuela has been able to withstand this financial imperialism with the support of China, Russia, and Iran. China and Venezuela have created «China-Venezuela Joint Fund» In 2007, it received significant capital injections from Chinese state-owned development banks, which proved necessary to maintain state oil revenues in the service of infrastructure development and social spending. [30] The State

Here we see the contours of a world based on sovereign cooperation and solidarity. Venezuela’s ability to sustain its nationalization program has provided the means to strengthen cooperation with regional anti-imperialist states, most notably Cuba. Venezuela’s supply of preferential oil flows to Cuba was necessary for Cuba’s ability to withstand a nearly 70-year U.S. blockade. [33] Venezuela has also taken the lead in regional integration efforts such as the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The solidarity of Venezuela and Cuba, in turn, served as an anchor for the growing Latin American anti-Zionist bloc, which has made itself known and taken concrete material actions to counter the escalating US-Zionist genocidal war against the Palestinians. Both countries severed ties with the Zionist entity. The American-Zionist imperialist alliance, in turn, made the defeat of the anti-Zionist bloc in the Americas a key component of its broader strategy to overcome the growing international isolation of the Zionist entity. [34] We note here the commitment of the US-backed leader of regime change in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado, to restore Venezuela’s full diplomatic support for the Zionist entity. [35] In addition, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded that Venezuela sever its relations with anti-Zionist forces in West Asia, namely the Islamic Republic.

These two interrelated levels of anti-imperialist sovereign expression — «inner» sovereign national development and «external» Cooperation and solidarity with other anti-imperialist states — These are existential challenges to the US-led imperialist world order. Sovereign national development reduces the capitalist core’s access to cheap labor and resources in the Global South, while deepening anti-imperialist interstate cooperation counters the threat. «isolation»imperialism seeks to impose on anti-imperialist states.

For this reason, first and foremost, «Trump's investigation into the Monroe Doctrine» remove «nonhemispheric rivals» And why it targeted Venezuela as its first act. It seeks to strip Venezuela of the strategic economic depth it has been able to withstand decades of hybrid warfare. — Capitalist strikes, international legal wars, sanctions, coup attempts — Support your sovereign development project. The attack on Venezuela clearly aims to redirect oil flows from China and Russia to the United States. [37] This would open the door to super-profits for Western financial and mining capital, severely limit the Venezuelan state’s sovereign development opportunities, and give the US stronger control over international oil and capital flows. Control of Venezuelan oil, in turn, will give U.S. imperialism a powerful tool to increase pressure on Cuba’s economy and advance its long-standing goal of rolling back the Cuban revolution. It can also be used to influence China. — The main source of strategic economic depth for the anti-imperialist forces in the world today.

Thus, the strategic renewal of the Monroe Doctrine by US imperialism is largely driven by the realization that the US has rapidly lost economic leadership in the world economy. China has demonstrated that it is breaking away from the US in the economic and technological sectors shaping the future of the global economy. [38] The superior efficiency and productivity of its artificial intelligence (AI) sector threatens the valuation of U.S. AI sectors and firms that have received hundreds of billions of dollars in capital investment. [39] In contrast to the US doubling down on oil and gas as a powerhouse for its AI sectors,[40] China is showing a future linking AI to accelerated development of its renewable energy sector. [41] This represents a decisive shift in the world away from dependence on oil and gas that will not only challenge the core of US imperialist power. — Dominance over resources and dollar hegemony — It will open up more space for a more sustainable future. China has further strengthened its control over the global supply chain for the transition to AI and renewable energy, securing control over both access to rare earth minerals needed for the renewable energy economy and the advanced technologies needed to process them. [42] China’s strategic control of the energy and rare earth supply chains was based primarily on long-term domestic industrial and processing capacity, while its access to upstream resources in the Global South was maintained through collateral.

While China has helped preserve Venezuela’s oil nationalization program, U.S. oil giants have sought to undermine and reverse it for decades. In the fall of 2025, when US courts ruled in favor of domestic energy and mining capital, ordering the Venezuelan state to sell its US assets to meet colonial-imperialist demands. «compensation» Exxon and ConocoPhillips, a Zionist-led firm «capitalist vulture» Elliot Management, owned by the infamous Paul Singer, intervened and acquired Venezuela's US assets — It consists mainly of CITGO refineries. [44] The Trump regime’s haste to redirect Venezuelan oil to the U.S. would then provide super profits to Elliot Management and other U.S. firms involved in processing Venezuelan crude at the CITGO refinery.

A similar dynamic exists if the U.S. can access Venezuela’s significant reserves of rare earth minerals. This will strengthen the newly formed US alliance. «Pax Silica». «Pax Silica» This is an explicit framework in which the U.S. has assembled eleven allied states in an effort to create a supply chain of semiconductor chips and AI technologies independent of China. [45] Venezuela’s critical minerals (including coltan) would be an important basis for countering the Chinese initiative. «Belt and road». [46]

Thus, we see how «strategic» The move by the US imperialist state to reconsolidate control of global energy and mineral flows has implications for the profitability and valuation of US capital and firms. The motives of U.S. imperialism, both at the firm level and at the structural level of the global economy, must be carefully considered in order to understand the dynamics of U.S. imperialism. «Trump's investigation into the Monroe Doctrine».

Contradictions of the Trump investigation: Tactical benefits against strategic losses

In light of the US attack on Venezuela, it may seem that US imperialism has regained its primacy in the world system. However, its crises not only persist but deepen. Absent a fundamental reorganization of its economic structure, the US will continue to show an inability to keep up with China’s manufacturing leaps in a number of sectors, including renewable energy and AI. As the U.S. doubles down on oil wars, China has decisively opened a post-fossil fuel trajectory in which its own dependence on oil will enter a secular decline.

The ongoing U.S.-led wars in Ukraine and Palestine have depleted NATO’s resources. [47] Member countries suffer from cash flow problems and shrinking economies, exacerbated by depleted stockpiles of weapons and defense systems that are expensive and slow to produce. [48] Social unrest in the US and Europe is high, and political fragmentation threatens the stability of both. [49] In this context, the desperation of US imperialism betrays itself, manifesting itself in racist, colonial language, fascist repression, savage violence and abductions of both migrants and heads of state, as well as in the accelerating use of concentration camps such as the Counter-Terrorism Center (CECOT) in El Salvador. Having lost the ability to wage protracted wars like those waged against Vietnam and Iraq, the U.S. is turning to short, sequential wars, seasoned with discrete and barbaric acts of aggression like the kidnapping of President Maduro and First Fighting Girlfriend Flores.

The basic contradiction for US imperialism persists: its immediate tactical victories undermine its long-term strategic objectives. Notably, the U.S. prepared for six months and then deployed 150 aircraft and dozens of military personnel to capture the two men. [50] However, after this spectacular display of power, the Bolivarian Republic remains intact. Acting President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in, the Venezuelan military, along with the massive Bolivarian militia, ensured national security and stability, opposition parties joined with President Maduro’s party. — United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) — in defense of the nation; and every day brought a growing global and national outcry against the U.S. «superpower».

The US-led Western imperialism has once again confirmed its refusal to provide any space for the sovereign development of the peoples of the Global South. The defeat of U.S. imperialism thus remains a fundamental challenge for all who fight for peace based on sovereignty, justice and peace. In the face of a criminal terrorist attack perpetrated by US imperialism, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela remains standing, and its popular forces are ready to defend it. It is imperative that anti-imperialist forces around the world unite in demanding the release of President Maduro and First Fighting Girlfriend Flores, the unconditional lifting of US sanctions and the blockade against Venezuela and Cuba, the full protection of the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the recognition of the right of the Venezuelan people to resist imperialist aggression.

Notes

[1] Our use of concepts «revolutionary» and «counter-revolutionary» It's accurate. Our understanding of revolution begins with Malcolm X’s definition that «revolutions overturn systems»Marx's idea that the overthrow of a system (or mode of production) occurs when its organizing property relations «burst» class struggle. The system of capitalist imperialism has historically organized itself in its colonies and imperialistally subordinated peripheries through property regimes. — plantations, aciendas, zamindari, etc. — structured «denial» They function to transfer cheap labor, resources and surplus value to the imperialist core. Thus, the revolution from the periphery is based on the overthrow of the plantation, its basic power relations being torn apart by the violent class struggle of peasants and workers. In the Latin American region, the revolutionary struggle was waged on a continental level and provided important victories in the overthrow of imperialist property structures in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia. «Counter-revolutionary» The war seeks to go back in time, abolish the revolution, and restore imperialist property. Here we can catch the convergence of American oil giants and Venezuelan class collaborators eager to return to Venezuela through the renewed militarized Monroe Doctrine.

 

[1] Our use of concepts «revolutionary» and «counter-revolutionary» It's accurate. Our understanding of revolution begins with Malcolm X’s definition that «revolutions overturn systems»Marx's idea that the overthrow of a system (or mode of production) occurs when its organizing property relations «burst» class struggle. The system of capitalist imperialism has historically organized itself in its colonies and imperialistally subordinated peripheries through property regimes. — plantations, aciendas, zamindari, etc. — structured «denial» They function to transfer cheap labor, resources and surplus value to the imperialist core. Thus, the revolution from the periphery is based on the overthrow of the plantation, its basic power relations being torn apart by the violent class struggle of peasants and workers. In the Latin American region, the revolutionary struggle was waged on a continental level and provided important victories in the overthrow of imperialist property structures in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia. «Counter-revolutionary» The war seeks to go back in time, abolish the revolution, and restore imperialist property. Here we can catch the convergence of American oil giants and Venezuelan class collaborators eager to return to Venezuela through the renewed militarized Monroe Doctrine.

 

[2] In this case, the objective is «structure»relations between Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, China and Russia.

 

[3] James Petras, "Venezuela: Democracy, Socialism, and Imperialism" in *The Marxist* (24.2), 2008.

 

[4] George Ciccariello-Maher, *We Created Chavez: A People's History of the Venezuelan Revolution* (Duke University Press, 2013).

 

[5] Cira Pascual Marquina and Chris Gilbert, *Venezuela, the Present as Struggle: Voices from the Bolivarian Revolution* (New York: Monthly Review Press, October 29, 2020).

 

[6] Chris Gilbert, *Commune or Nothing! Venezuela's Communal Movement and its Socialist Project* (New York: Monthly Review Press, October 1, 2023); Rebecca Trotzky Sirr, "Misión Barrio Adentro: Experiencing Health Care as a Human Right in Venezuela." *Venezuelanalysis*May 27, 2007, https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2406/.

 

[8] President Maduro Celebrates Success of 4th Nationwide Popular Consultation. *Orinoco Tribune*, November 25, 2025, https://orinocotribune.com/president-maduro-celebrates-success-of-4th-nationwide-popular-consultation/.

 

[9] Instituto Tricontinental de Investigación Social, *Venezuela y las guerras híbridas en Nuestra América*Dossier no. 17, June 2019, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/190604 Dossier-17 ES-Web-Final-2.pdf.

 

[10] Samir Amin, *The Law of Worldwide Value* (Monthly Review Press, 2009); Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik, *Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History and Present* (Monthly Review Press, 2021); Walter Rodney *How Europe Underdeveloped Africa* (London: Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications, 1972).

 

[11] Antony Anghie, *Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law* (Columbia, 2004).

 

[12] Farshad Araghi, "The Invisible Hand and the Visible Foot: Peasants, Dispossession, and Globalization" in *Peasants and Globalization: Political economy, rural transformation and the agrarian question* (Routledge, 2009).

 

[13] Ciccariello-Maher, Op Cit.

 

[14] Pierre, Jean Jores, "PetroCaribe is at the Heart of a Geopolitical Battle in the Caribbean," https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/07/15/petrocaribe-is-at-the-heart-of-a-regional-geopolitical-battle/ (July 15, 2020).

 

[15] Helen Yaffe, *We are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Survived in a Post-Soviet World* (Yale Press, 2020).

 

[16] Peter Hallward, *Damning the Flood: Haiti and the Politics of Containment* (Verso, 2007).

 

[17] Sam Moyo and Paris Yeros, "Land Occupations and Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Towards the National Democratic Revolution in Zimbabwe" in *Reclaiming the Land: The Resurgence of Rural Movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America* (Zed Books, 2005).

 

[18] Oscar Olivera and Tom Lewis *¡Cochabamba! Water War in Bolivia* (South End Press, 2004).

 

[19] Rashid Khalidi, *The Hundred Years War on Palestine* (Columbia, 2018).

 

[20] Juan Carlos Boue, "Conoco-Philliips and Exxon-Mobil v. Venezuela: Using Investment Arbitration to Rewrite a Contract" Investment Treaty News, September 20, 2013 https:///www.iisd.org/itn/2013/09/20/conoco-phillips-and-exxon-mobil-v-venezuela-using-investment-arbitration-to-rewrite-a-contract/.

 

[21] Steve Cushion, "Neocolonialism through Debt: How French and US Banks Underdeveloped Haiti" Monthly Review (77.4) 2025; On Cuba, see Harry Magdoff. *Imperialism without Colonies* (Monthly Review, 1961).

 

[22] Reuters, "Zimbabwe agrees to pay" $3.5 billion dollars in compensation to white farmers," July 30, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/world/zimbabwe-agrees-to-pay-35-billion-compensation-to-white-farmers-idUSKCN24U2SD/.

 

[23] Mark Weisbrot & Jeffrey Sachs, *Economic Sanctions as Collective Punishment: The Case of Venezuela* (Center for Economic and Policy Research, April 2019).

 

[24] Weisbrot and Sachs, Op Cit.

 

[25] CEPAL/ECLAC, *Balance Preliminar de las Economías de América Latina y el Caribe 2025*Noting 8.5% growth in 2024 and projected 6.5% in 2025 for Venezuela, above regional trends.

 

[26] White House, *National Security Strategy of the United States*2025.

 

[27] Ibid.

 

[28] Stephen Kaplan and Michael Penfold, *China-Venezuela Economic Relations: Hedging Venezuelan Bets with Chinese Characteristics*, Wilson Center, February 2019.

 

[29] Kenneth Stein, "Exxon-Venezuela arbitration dispute: next steps and impact on future investor-state disputes under ICSID" *The Journal of World Energy Law & Business (4, 4, 2011)*.

 

[30] Kaplan and Penfold, Op Cit.

 

[31] Reuters, "How Russia sank billions of dollars into Venezuelan quicksand" March 14, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/venezuela-russia-rosneft/.

 

[32] Ghazal Golshiri and Madjid Zerrouky, “Venezuela: Iran risks losing a key economic and military ally” *Le Monde Diplomatique*, January 7, 2026, https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/01/07/venezuela-iran-risks-losing-a-key-economic-and-military-ally_6749155_4.html.

 

[33] Politico, “Trump’s attack on Venezuela could change the world. Here’s how.” January 4, 2026, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/04/us-venezuela-maduro-predictions-analysis-00710030.

 

[34] Liza Rozovsky, “Netanyahu wants to Tango with Latin America after the Venezuela Take Over. But the Music May Change” Haaretz, January, 5, 2026, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-01-05/ty-article-magazine/.premium/netanyahu-wants-to-tango-with-latin-america-after-venezuela-takeover-the-music-may-change/0000019b-8d25-de2a-a7db-cd3f3e450000.

 

[35] Al-Akhbar, “Who is Maria Corina Machado, the US backed face of Venezuela?” January 3, 2026, https://en.al-akhbar.com/news/who-is-maria-corina-machado–the-us-backed-face-of-venezuela.

 

[36] The National, “Venezuela must cut ties with Iran and Hezbollah, Rubio Demands,” January 4, 2026, https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2026/01/04/maduro-capture-rubio-middle-east/.

 

[37] Ron Bousso, “Trumps ‘Donroe’ Doctrine Targets China, US oil firms could pay the price” *Reuters*, January 8, 2026, https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/trumps-donroe-doctrine-targets-china-us-oil-firms-could-pay-price-2026-01-08/.

 

[38] Tim Wu, “Could America win the AI race but lose the war?” *Financial Times*, December 13, 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/12581344-6e37-45a0-a9d5-e3d6a9f8d9ba.

 

[39] John Thornhill and Cawei Chen, “The State of AI: is China about to win the race?” *Financial Times*, November 3, 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/794caa5d-1039-4c21-9883-9374912fe1a9.

 

[40] Ian Harnett, “America’s risky bet on hydrocarbons might hurt it in the AI race” *Financial Times*, December 23, 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/73e02356-adbd-4054-bd6e-bd6c8489f094.

 

[41] Jianyin Roachell, “Environmental AI Governance: US and China have Different Roads to Developing Green AI Systems” *China-US Focus*, January 9, 2026, https://www.chinausfocus.com/energy-environment/environmental-ai-governance-us-and-china-have-different-roads-to-developing-green-ai-systems.

 

[42] Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, “China’s rare earth dominance and policy responses”, June 2023.

 

[43] See Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, *China’s Rare Earths Dominance and Policy Responses* (2023), on China’s consolidation of rare-earth processing through domestic industrial policy; and Deborah Bräutigam, *China, Africa and the International Aid Architecture* (AfDB Working Paper 107, 2010), on China’s use of negotiated infrastructure-for-resources financing as a form of South–South “win-win” cooperation distinct from Western conditionality. On the critical minerals supply chains in particular see Weihan Zhou, Victor Crochet, and Haoxue Wang, “Demystifying China’s Critical Mineral Strategies: Rethinking ‘De-Risking’ Supply Chains” *World Trade Review* (24, 2, 2025).

 

[44] Ibid.; Stephen Prager, “Meet Paul Singer, the Billionaire Trump Megadonor Set to Make a Killing on Venezuela Oil,” *Common Dreams*, January 5, 2026, https://www.commondreams.org/news/paul-singer-venezuela.

 

[45] US Department of State, Pax Silica Declaration https://www.state.gov/pax-silica.

 

[46] Marc Caputo and Madison Mills, “The War for Minerals, Oil, and AI” Axios, January 6, 2026, https://www.axios.com/2026/01/06/donroe-doctrine-the-war-for-minerals-oil-and-ai.

 

[47] “The hard facts of three years of war—considering both economic costs and political consequences—present a stark reality. Ukraine is a fragile nation, its economy and war effort sustained only by Western support. The asymmetry with Russia has deepened; Moscow has demonstrated economic resilience, repositioned itself internationally, and solidified a nationalist political and economic elite loyal to Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian rule. The cost of the war has fallen disproportionately on Europe, which has found itself politically marginalised by the United States under both Biden and Trump. Europe has been unable to propose a negotiated resolution to the conflict. It has severed cooperation with Russia while facing unexpected strains in its alliance with the United States, particularly under Trump. The continent has suffered from inflation, economic downturns, and growing impoverishment, with profound consequences for its social and political landscape. Under the pretext of supporting Ukraine, Europe is transforming itself into a military power—abandoning the very principles of European integration, fueling further arms races, and constructing a military-industrial complex that remains subordinate to the technological supremacy of American weaponry.” Pianta, Mario. “What Has Been the Cost of Ukraine’s War–And Who Pays?”, 10 March 2025, https://www.socialeurope.eu/what-has-been-the-cost-of-ukraines-war-and-who-pays.

 

[48] “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Prioritizes the War Fighter in Defense Contracting,” 6 January 2026, https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-prioritizes-the-warfighter-in-defense-contracting/.

 

[49] Id.

 

[50] Gordon, Chris. “US Airpower Paved the Way for Delta Force to Capture Venezuela’s Maduro,” *Air & Space Forces Magazine*. January 3, 2026, https://www.airandspaceforces.com/us-airpower-paved-the-way-for-delta-force-to-capture-venezuelas-maduro/.

*Мнения, выраженные в данной статье, принадлежат авторам и не обязательно отражают позицию редакции Venezuelanalysis.*