Veterans For Peace is appalled by the U.S. military’s extrajudicial killing of fishermen from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Trinidad and Tobago—whom the Trump administration labeled as drug traffickers without evidence, due process, or accountability to Congress.
We condemn President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their open threats to attack and overthrow Venezuela’s lawfully elected, sovereign government. We call for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. warships, fighter jets, and thousands of troops now menacing the coast of Venezuela. Reports of a massive naval buildup—including aircraft carriers, destroyers, and cruise missiles—raise serious concerns that the administration is preparing for yet another war of aggression in Latin America.
As veterans of U.S. wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan—wars based on lies that killed millions—we see through the familiar justifications for this latest escalation. Just as the “weapons of mass destruction” narrative led to the invasion of Iraq, today’s “narco-terrorist” accusations ring hollow. The Drug Enforcement Administration itself has confirmed that few illicit drugs come from Venezuela, while fentanyl enters primarily from Mexico. Colombia remains a major source of cocaine, yet its current president, Gustavo Petro, has taken serious steps to curb production and trafficking.
What Venezuela does possess are the world’s largest known reserves of oil and gas. Its government has pledged to use those resources to lift its people out of poverty. For over twenty years, the U.S. has waged a covert campaign to destabilize Venezuela through attempted coups and devastating economic sanctions that have killed more than 100,000 people. Now Washington appears to be returning to old-fashioned gunboat imperialism—while simultaneously funding genocide in Palestine, prolonging the war in Ukraine, and deploying militarized forces in U.S. cities.\\ Our thousands of veteran and allies members stand firmly against war, genocide, and creeping fascism. We support all service members who refuse to participate in illegal wars at home or abroad. We join together with our allies in the peace movement for a Week of Coordinated Protests, November 15–23. We will continue to organize until the U.S. government ends its war on Venezuela and stops intervening in the internal affairs of other nations.
No War On Venezuela! No Troops in Our Streets! No More Genocide in Our Name!
Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is composed of over 100 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars. Veterans For Peace is dedicated to restraining the US government from intervening in the internal affairs of other nations, and calls on the US to end its complicity in the Gaza genocide by stopping the flow of US weapons to Israel.
Veterans For Peace was founded in 1985 by military veterans opposed to the Reagan administration’s war against the people of Central America. It includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, other conflicts and periods in between. Read other articles by Veterans for Peace.
