Who Attacked Venezuela?

The question might seem rhetorical; the specific information about the aggression by US filibuster troops has generated countless speculations and intense media manipulation campaigns, which are part of the aggression itself, in the unclear digital space.

Even so, a great deal of truthful information is lacking since, in practice, the vast majority of accounts of the specific events come from US sources, starting with Trump and the pathological liar Mr. Rubio, as well as from military officers involved; in other words, these perspectives are hardly credible.

By the way, could anyone believe the word of the high-ranking officers of the invading army? However, it's worth remembering the "respected" four-star general Colin Powell, who, brandishing a bag of baking soda (or something similar), tried to convince the UN Security Council that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Basic caution suggests we must wait to learn what really happened that fateful morning of January 3, 2026, which will go down in history as the first time the US bombed a South American capital.

Nevertheless, and without denying the need for the people of the Americas to know exactly what happened, there’s a crucial aspect to the matter: who is behind this monumental violation of a country's national sovereignty?

Well, at first glance, the involvement of powerful economic interests is evident, obviously linked to the US oil industry. And of course, in any scenario, the pressure and coercion exerted by the military-industrial complex on any occupant of the White House is always present.

So, if you really want to know who gave the order to attack Venezuela, it's not enough to just look in the halls of the Pentagon or the State Department. You'd be better off looking at the top management of Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, or Chevron.

I insist, don't forget to ask the leaders/owners of Lockheed Martin, Raythein Technologies, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics, among others, which make up the aforementioned military-industrial conglomerate.

Even if you're interested in the matter, find out how much these Pentagon contractors, in particular, have pocketed just from the air and naval deployment in the Caribbean; the figure is no less than billions of dollars in logistical services, weapons provision, maintenance, etc.

Oil companies, of course, are trying to regain the privileges they once enjoyed. Although it wasn't the Bolivarian Revolution that nationalized the petrochemical industry, Chávez, through the 2001 Organic Hydrocarbons Law, modified the royalty formula, stipulating that the majority would remain in the country. Exxon and others were angered, left, and a year later orchestrated a failed coup; their hostility continues to this day.

So, in perspective, Trump and his fierce subordinates, including Mr. Rubio and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth, were the executors of a summary order issued by those who truly rule the country—namely, the infamous 1% who control approximately 35% of the wealth generated in the US.

If the above explanation isn't enough to understand the "concerns of the unfortunate" 1%, there's another issue, perhaps far more strategic for the empire.

Here we see the loss of US hegemony, especially economic hegemony. And faced with this inevitable situation, it's precisely the responsibility of the current leaders to seek solutions, or at least attempt to confront this decline.

But the multilateral world, with the BRICS controlling 40% of global GDP, stands in the way of this imperial resistance. And some of the emerging powers are beginning to challenge what is perhaps the main remaining economic strength of the US: the dominance of the dollar.

It’s said that it was Kissinger who, in the 1970s, managed to convince the most important fuel producers outside the USSR to adopt the so-called petrodollars, which, as experts claim, are more important than aircraft carriers for world domination according to the imperial cosmogony.

The rest of the story is more or less well-known. The US, at this point, is the country with the largest external debt in the world, transformed into a vast importing power, in the midst of deindustrialization, and with astronomical military expenditures that contribute to this debt but are necessary to maintain the fiction of great power status; thus creating a vicious cycle that tends to degrade the importance of the USD.

So Trump, the trump-followers and all the trappings surrounding him are nothing more than an extraordinary effort by the imperial powers to try to halt the “multilateral disorder” that threatens to wipe out what remains of the once poorly managed hegemony they have enjoyed.

Then Venezuela appears in the spotlight. Overflowing with oil and other natural resources, led by a government with deep popular support, it’s clearly an ideological adversary in every sense of the word, including the symbolic significance of being the homeland of Bolívar.

And faced with US aggression, Venezuela fervently embraces the idea of multilateralism, seeking to neutralize the intense economic blockade, which includes, as if that weren't enough, abandoning the petrodollar standard since at least 2018.

A terrible example for the rest of the continent, and also for the other OPEC and associated producers. Back in the day, when the world was a different place, Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein considered abandoning petrodollars. We all know how that story ended.

For all the reasons mentioned above, it's understandable that around February 2025, under the direction of Mr. Rubio, a plan began to take shape, which manifested itself almost a year later, in the early hours of January 3rd.

It was a devastating blow, and the condemnation of this universal affront must be unwavering, without compromise, as President Díaz-Canel stated just hours after the criminal attack, before a massive popular mobilization of rejection.

It's aptly said, metaphorically, that the last vestiges of international law, virtually nullified since the genocide in Gaza, were finally discarded. For years, the US has always acted this way, and now Trump, with his brazen, arrogant arrogance, reminds that credulous part of the world—which still swallows the American myth that they are the standard-bearers of the fight for freedom and democracy—without batting an eye.

With Venezuela, another red line has been crossed, as they say nowadays. But the South American country does not surrender, nor will it. One must have that firm conviction, unless one doesn't believe at all in the legacy of Bolívar and Chávez.

The lavish statements of the pedophile emperor, claiming that they control Venezuela after the kidnapping of its legitimate president, are the empty rhetoric of a clearly unfinished operation, one that could not, or did not know how to, achieve the desired regime change—an objective so obvious that Trump's candor confirms it.

Therefore, a first recommendation: don't believe it, not even a little bit! The conspiracy theories about power struggles, betrayals by the Venezuelan political and military high command, and other narratives, as has been said, are part of the multidimensional attack that Venezuela is currently suffering.

The Cuban martyrs, the 32 who died in this invasion in the full performance of their duty, fell perhaps unknowingly, becoming the new men of whom Che spoke.

These martyrs of the Latin American revolution, unfinished but inevitable, likely evoked, at the critical moment, Baragua, or the unequal combat in the streets surrounding the former Moncada Barracks on July 26, 1953; perhaps they remembered Alegría de Pío, or Cinco Palmas, or the death in combat in El Curita in the Battle of Santa Clara, or those who died in Angola without asking for anything in return, and also in other places here in America, such as Bolivia.

Mr. Rubio and those responsible for this crime have plenty of reasons to look if they attempt to attack the Island of Dignity; the 32 will be multiplied by a thousand, by a hundred thousand, or by as many thousands as they wish. Homeland or Death. We Will Win.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff