Venezuela, Mexico & The Defense of Latin America

ByMexico Solidarity

This editorial by Leopoldo Santos Ramírez originally appeared in the December 4, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Mexico Solidarity Media, or the Mexico Solidarity Project.

The passivity of Latin American governments regarding the criminal conduct of the United States government in bombing ships in both the Caribbean and the Pacific has reached scandalous levels. Now, with the attempted closure of Venezuelan airspace, Trump is posing a threat to the rest of Latin America that is difficult to ignore, even for a country like ours, committed, without reciprocity, to the preliminary review of the Free Trade Agreement.

A few countries, with a markedly progressive, left-leaning political tendency, have raised their voices to condemn Trump’s savage violation of international law, but they have done so individually, which must change to a collective position; it does not matter if at first only a few join, in the end the majority of nations willing to rebel against tyranny will unite, just as vast sectors of American society have begun mobilizing within their territory.

Several elements of international events support the idea of ​​presenting a united front against Trump’s arbitrary actions. Recently, with eloquent clarity, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia expressed at the UN General Assembly much of the thinking and feeling of millions of Latin Americans in the face of this new aggression by the empire, which is drawing ever closer to the Venezuelan coast. Our President, too, with measured restraint, has repeatedly reminded everyone, both during and outside of her daily press conferences, of the principles of our foreign policy.

The first rule when confronting tyranny is to avoid the mistaken strategy of believing that concessions can be made to appease it.

The recent statements by Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, regarding the Israeli genocide against Gaza, took a step forward in condemning the Netanyahu regime and showed that Trump’s policies lack support from many sectors internationally, and instead face widespread condemnation.

Now it is necessary for the governments that are clearly committed to peace and not to capitulation to issue a joint declaration regarding the withdrawal of ships and armed personnel from the Venezuelan coast, and to denounce before the UN the violations of international law, which now seems like an empty concept, but which needs to be exercised to be revived. Of course, all of this must be accompanied by popular mobilizations in favor of peace.

The context. President Trump’s current escalation finds Latin American popular forces bewildered, but with a vast anti-imperialist consciousness that needs to mobilize before the North American’s destructive actions lead to situations that are more difficult to reverse. We must defend Venezuela as much as we defend Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Cuba, because they are a substantial part of our America.

If Trump invades Venezuela, long years of war will follow because that country has no shortage of patriotic men and women who defend a project of communal life that did not begin with Chavismo, but with the struggle for Venezuelan independence, a struggle that the strategic genius of the liberator Simón Bolívar carried to much of the continent to achieve its liberation. These patriots are heirs to the men and women who accompanied the liberator in the war and revolution for the independence of the peoples of America. They possess a project that gives strength and power to their politics in the face of Trump’s predatory policies.

For many reasons, Mexico is in the best position to call on nations committed to peace to take more decisive action. The main reason is that President Claudia Sheinbaum enjoys international support for her leadership in governing, which has focused on resolving problems through legal and peaceful means. Her voice in favor of peace will be heard by other world leaders. Of course, Mexico’s relations with the United States would become more strained. But the consequences for Mexico would be even worse if Venezuela were forced to defend its territory.

No one said it would be an easy path, but the first rule when confronting tyranny is to avoid the mistaken strategy of believing that concessions can be made to appease it. I recall General Lázaro Cárdenas’s stay in Havana during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, President López Portillo’s visit in 1980 to reaffirm support for Cuba, and more recently, amidst threats to the island, President López Obrador’s recognition of the Cuban government. This speaks to the solidarity that defines Mexicans. This is the best moment to enter the arena where the near future will be decided.