The US War on Latin America & The Caribbean

ByJosé Luis Granados Ceja

The first bombs have fallen. The US war on Latin America and the Caribbean has begun, and only the organized peoples of this hemisphere will save us from the US’s genocidal empire.

International law won’t protect us, marching won’t be enough. The invasion of Venezuela and the subsequent kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3 is a watershed moment: either we get organized, or we’ll perish.

This isn’t about Donald Trump; he’s only a more vulgar expression of the imperialist logic underpinning our world system. Since the criminal kidnapping of Maduro, the White House has already threatened Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico.

Here in Mexico, we need to abandon this notion that peaceful coexistence with US imperialism is possible — a clash is coming.

This is imperialism manifest, and they’re coming for all of us Latin Americans. It isn’t a question of what they want to do; that much is clear — dominate the entire hemisphere. Rather, it’s a question of what we will do to stop them.

The US displayed its overwhelming power and technology that fateful morning when it attacked Venezuela, a crime of crimes. But the US isn’t invincible. When the sounds of bombs rang out, the organized peoples of Venezuela didn’t cower; they ran to get their guns. That the US didn’t attempt to occupy the country is a testament to the armed, organized working class in Venezuela the Pentagon fears.

When the world can watch a genocide unfold in real time, when the empire brazenly kidnaps a head of state, when multilateral institutions only muster mealy-mouthed statements in response, it becomes undeniable that only the people save the people. The Palestinian armed resistance understands this, President Maduro understands this, and it’s time the peoples of this hemisphere understand this too.

Here in Mexico, we need to abandon this notion that peaceful coexistence with US imperialism is possible — a clash is coming. The late Hugo Chávez learned this lesson early on.

“The Venezuelan oligarchy and the American empire will never accept us; they will always be plotting schemes to try to remove us from power, unless we change and surrender to them. But that is not going to happen here. Here we say: Homeland, Socialism, or Death!”

Hugo Chavez, 11-04-2007

José Luis Granados Ceja is a journalist and political analyst based in Mexico City. He is co-host of the Mexican public television show Sin Muros, and currently covers Latin America for Drop Site News, and writes a monthly opinion column for the Mexico Solidarity Project and also co-hosts the weekly podcast, Soberanía.