US action in Venezuela sets ‘catastrophic precedent’ for small states, warns group

The Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration (Barbados) has condemned the United States’ military intervention in Venezuela, warning that the action carries serious consequences for Caribbean and other developing nations.

In a statement issued after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were removed from the country during the operation, the group said the intervention “sets a catastrophic precedent for all small and developing nations that dare to chart their own political, economic, and social paths”.

The organisation condemned the operation as an unlawful act carried out on sovereign territory and cautioned Caribbean governments against remaining silent, arguing that inaction would amount to complicity.

“We, therefore, issue an urgent call to Caribbean governments, Latin American and Global South nations, intellectuals, artists, social movements, trade unions, and faith-based communities to activate militant, principled, and effective solidarity with Venezuela,” the group stated.

“This moment demands coordinated political pressure, mass mobilisation, cultural resistance, and a renewed commitment to peace grounded in justice—not submission.”

The group described the intervention as “a crime against peace, a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter, and a dangerous escalation that threatens the sovereignty of all nations, particularly those of the Global South”.

It further characterised the operation as an attack on the right to self-determination, describing it as a reversal of gains secured by formerly colonised peoples. According to the statement, this “is the reactivation of colonial war as an instrument of political and economic control”.

Referencing the region’s shared colonial past, the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration said Caribbean societies understood the dangers of external domination and had long histories rooted in resistance to oppression. (PR/BT)