Venezuela: Surgentes condemns US interference and extrajudicial execution of 17 Venezuelans

First published in Spanish at Surgentes. Translation by Federico Fuentes for LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal.

Faced with the United States’ hostile military presence in the Southern Caribbean since August 2025, the human rights collective Surgentes declares the following:

1. We condemn the US military presence off Venezuela’s coast as an act of hostility that violates Article 2.4 of the United Nations Charter, which states “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State…”

2. We condemn the extrajudicial executions carried out by US soldiers of at least 17 Venezuelans traveling in speedboats from Venezuela. Such acts constitute a violation of the right to life, which must be investigated and punished.

3. We denounce that this new interventionist action comes on top of the long list of unilateral coercive measures that have negatively impacted upon the human rights of the Venezuelan population and have facilitated the de facto Maduro government's imposition of a state of emergency in violation of the Constitution and human rights.

4. We condemn a potential US military occupation of Venezuela or any other act of aggression on our territory, as such actions would violate the human right of peoples’ self-determination, enshrined in Article 1 [of the UN Charter], and the two main UN human rights conventions. US interests in relation to Venezuela prioritise: a) control over oil and other resources; b) reducing immigration; and c) minimising the presence of China, Russia, and Iran on the continent. The Trump administration has no real interest in democracy or respect for the Constitution and human rights in Venezuela, despite the fact that these are rhetorically raised by some in their alliance. It is worth remembering this is the same government that supports Israel’s genocide in Gaza; has been responsible for serious human rights violations during the occupations of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria (which continue to experience episodes of violence and destruction); and systematically disrespects the constitution and human rights in its own country.

5. We deplore the acquiescence of the opposition sector led by María Corina Machado in the face of the US’ hostile acts against Venezuela. Venezuela’s problems must be resolved by Venezuelans, in a sovereign, democratic, negotiated and peaceful manner, with the support and involvement of countries in our region, particularly our brothers and neighbours in Colombia and Brazil. Any president who attempts to govern the country by arriving on US warships will govern in favour of that country's interests and prolong the authoritarian and exclusionary tragedy that Maduro's de facto government represents today.

6. We denounce that the de facto Maduro government is using this US aggression to again escalate repression against the popular majority and the different opposition groups, with the aim of generating terror and immobilising the population. It is also using the situation to facilitate the unification of its forces around a patriotic discourse that aims to obscure the serious human rights violations that underpin its governance.

7. We reject the warmongering rhetoric of the Maduro government’s leaders and its negative impact on the internal conflict, as well as the coercion suffered by public employees to enlist in the militias. We recall that the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of conscience, which includes the right to conscientious objection (Article 61), prohibits forced recruitment, and establishes the possibility of performing civilian service as an alternative to military service (Article 134).

Requests and demands

1. We request that Latin American countries promote, within the framework of the United Nations, a debate on the hostile US military presence in the Caribbean, as it relates to Article 2.4 of the UN Charter.

2. We demand that the Public Ministry initiate an investigation into the intentional homicide of the 17 people attacked by US military forces.

3. We offer our support to the families of these 17 people to help them in lodging their cases with international human rights organisations and request the solidarity of US human rights organisations to initiate criminal proceedings for these acts in the courts of that country.

4. We demand an end to all unilateral coercive measures by the US against Venezuela.

5. We join with all popular and democratic sectors that, while denouncing the de facto government of Maduro, its repressive policies and violations of human rights, mobilise to condemn all forms of US interference in Venezuela.

6. We ask that the governments of Colombia and Brazil facilitate a genuine political negotiation in Venezuela that can allow us, in a peaceful manner, to recuperate democracy, stop the repression and reduce poverty and inequality.