By Davey Heller

Note: This article was originally published on the Red Anti-Imperialist Collective website on November 26th 2025

On November 23rd in Naarm / Melbourne, around one hundred and thirty people attended a “Hands off Venezuela Solidarity” rally. The rally was organised by LASNET (Latin American Solidarity Network) and endorsed by Red Ant and a range of other leftist groups supporting the work of the Venezuelan Solidarity Committee that meets regularly in Naarm.

The rally occurred in response to the growing military threats by the US government to initiate a disastrous regime change war against the Bolivarian government led by Nicolás Maduro.

The United States’ biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is one among a dozen warships carrying ten to twelve thousand sailors and  marines to the Caribbean as part of Operation Southern Spear. The US has also conducted B52 bombing drills and sent F-35s to Puerto Rico as part of its efforts.

US forces have already demonstrated their deadly intent by carrying out completely illegal strikes against 20 vessels in international waters in the region since early September resulting in the murder of at least 76 people. They have claimed that all killed were “drug traffickers”, as part of their entirely fictional narrative that Venezuela and its leftist socialist government are at the heart of a massive drug cartel that is flooding the US with illegal narcotics.

Motega, a member of the African Solidarity Collective who is also a member of the Red Ant Collective, gave an impassioned speech affirming that:

“The crime in the world today, the primary contradiction in the world today is that of imperialism, is that of neocolonialism, that the governments of the world have divided the world into oppressor and oppressed nations and that they feel they can dominate, that they can steal, they can take the resources and that nobody else, no other nation is allowed to stand up with dignity and pride and that is what they fear about Venezuela and Cuba!”

Although there was not a Venezuelan speaker, we heard from Chilean and Colombian activists. Ihab Ibrahim spoke on behalf of the Free Palestine Coalition Naarm, and there were also speakers from the Cuban Friendship Society, Red Spark, Socialist Alliance and Anak Bangsa Merdeka.

The consistent theme of the speakers was the interconnectedness of the struggles against US imperialism, a theme that was brought to life in the many chants of “Yankee Go Home” that punctuated the rally.

Speakers pointed out both the devastating human cost paid for struggling against imperialism in the forms of wars, genocide (in the case of Gaza) and sanctions. As the speaker from the Cuban Friendship society explained, the campaign of vicious sanctions and destabilisation efforts against Venezuela were following the now 60 year long “Cuban playbook”.

As well as acknowledging the price of struggle however, many speakers also pointed to the inspiring legacy of struggle against imperialism across borders and time. The example of the Palestinians who refuse to surrender in the face of almost unimaginable horror was cited repeatedly. Speaker after speaker emphasized that it was only solidarity that would allow working class resistance to prevail and solidarity was our greatest weapon.

Whilst there were no false hopes peddled about the ability of Venezuela to brush off any US attack, the mobilisation by the Maduro government of millions in people’s militias was emphasized along with the years of resistance to US coup attempts to crush the Bolivarian revolution.

Links were also made to the heroic struggles against colonisation that has occurred and continues on the land of “so-called Australia”, with famous warriors such as Pemulwuy, Windradyne, Yagan, Musquito being remembered.

Numerous speakers articulated the demand that the Australian Government must break its military and intelligence ties with the US war machine including withdrawal from the ANZUS and AUKUS treaties, and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

MC of the rally Joe Montero from the Venezuela Solidarity campaign spoke of Australia as a country whose sovereignty had been compromised ever since the CIA and MI5 coup against Whitlam in 1975. He repeatedly referred to the Wikileaks cables which had revealed how the US embassy was deeply involved in Australian politics and where prospective leaders of the Labor Party had to be “approved”. 

Whilst of course it is true that the US does actively intervene to shape Australian politics to ensure its interests are protected; this is an incomplete explanation for why Australia has maintained a formal alliance with the US since 1951, hosts US bases and does not explain why Australia had signed the ANZUS treaty as long ago as 1951 and fought in virtually every US imperialist war since World War 2. The Australian government and the Australian capitalist ruling class more broadly are an integral and active part of the imperialist world order. They support the US imperialist war machine because they see it as the best way to enforce a global world order from which they benefit and can maximise their profits, in particular the super profits available from exploiting the resources and labor of the global south. Recognising this basic fact that Australian capitalism relies on this imperialist world order is a precondition to building real mass movements against imperialism in this country. 

Several speakers also referred to the fact that the threats to Venezuela arose from the context of US imperialism being on the back foot or decline, but there was not much elaboration on what was driving this crisis. Whilst the primary contradiction in the world today is still between imperialist and non-imperialist countries, it is a world order that is under challenge from the trend towards multipolarity through mechanisms such as BRICS. China with its mix of planned and market economy overseen by the CPC is driving much of this momentum. Within this context, the United States open reembrace of the two-hundred year old colonial Monroe Doctrine is not just about stealing natural resources, but attempting to combat the realignment of countries in what it considers its “backyard” towards other states. Venezuela has developed a close strategic relationship with Russia based on both energy and military ties and China is the second largest trading partner to many Latin American countries.

The ongoing military aggression, and likely escalation, against Venezuela essentially represents the Western hemisphere front of an increasingly frenzied global military action being taken by US imperialism following its heinous crimes in West Asia, including the Palestinian genocide, and its fuelling of the NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. In this context, the Australian government and ruling class shares the aims of US Imperialism – to maintain Western imperialist hegemony at all costs, which means it will either tacitly or openly support a war against Venezuela.

The next steps in the campaign involve building further actions nationally, and in particular, to prepare for an emergency action on the steps of Flinders St at 5PM the day after any major escalation by the United States.

Whilst Sunday’s rally was relatively small, it was emphasized by the speakers that the recordings of the rally would reach Venezuela. It is important that people demonstrate resistance to US sanctions and war threats against Venezuela within the imperialist core and do what we can to add strength to arms of the brave working class of Venezuela, who are literally staring down the barrel of the US guns. 

Note: Abya Yala does not merely designate ‘Latin America’ but the whole of America (what is called ‘The Americas’ in English), it’s important to keep this in mind because the whole continent is indigenous land, notwithstanding the settler-colonial projects known as ‘USA’ and ‘Canada’