Working People Stand Against Trump’s War on Venezuela

Photo Credit: Time Magazine

The Ramsey for Governor campaign unequivocally condemns the Trump Administration's aggressive military buildup and attacks on Venezuela. Make no mistake: this isn't about fighting drugs or promoting democracy. It's about oil. Polls show 70% of Americans oppose US military action in Venezuela. We refuse to let billionaires drag us into another war that benefits the ultra-rich, while working people pay the price with our lives and taxes.

Right now, 15,000 U.S. troops and 11 warships are stationed off Venezuela's coast. Since September, U.S. forces have killed at least 83 people in strikes on boats the administration claims—without evidence—were carrying drugs, while Trump threatens to authorize a full-scale invasion.

Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves—303 billion barrels. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said it plainly: oil "is at the heart of the matter." Trump "is not thinking about the democratization of Venezuela, let alone the narco-trafficking." U.S. officials have privately admitted their ultimate goal is regime change—to drive President Maduro from power and seize control of Venezuela's oil for American corporations. Yet they pardon proven drug traffickers like Juan Orlando Hernández, who moved 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S.

This is U.S. imperialism, plain and simple. It's the same playbook used in Iraq, Libya, and across Latin America for over a century—invade under false pretenses, install a puppet government, and hand over a nation's resources to Wall Street billionaires and oil companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron.

Who Really Benefits From War?

When Trump wages war on Venezuela, he's protecting the profits of billionaires and weapons manufacturers who get rich off conflict while working families pay the price.

War means billions stolen from our communities. Every dollar spent on bombs, warships, and CIA operations is a dollar not spent on housing, healthcare, or schools for California's working families. We're told we can't afford universal healthcare or to house every homeless person, but the Pentagon always finds billions for war.

War means higher costs and more suffering for working people. It drives up gas prices and forces working families to bear the burden while oil executives profit. It creates mass displacement and refugee crises—politicians from both parties demonize immigrants while creating the conditions forcing people to flee.

Companies like Walmart, McDonald's, and Amazon pay poverty wages here at home while weapons manufacturers like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Elbit Systems make billions selling bombs. California invests our public pension money in these war profiteers—over $32 billion of our teachers' and state workers' retirement funds.

Venezuela Has Stood with Working People—Trump Never Has

When the U.S. government abandoned working-class Americans, Venezuela extended solidarity. Its capacity to offer that aid came from its sovereign control of its resources, not the U.S. government or international corporations.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, the Bush administration left Black and working-class families to die. Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez offered aid and sent fuel. Venezuela provided low-cost heating oil to poor families in the Bronx, Boston, Native American communities, and homeless shelters across the United States—saving struggling families millions.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has imposed crushing sanctions on Venezuela since 2019, freezing $7 billion in Venezuelan assets and crippling the country's economy. These sanctions have devastated ordinary Venezuelans while billionaires and weapons manufacturers profit.

The choice is clear: Venezuela has provided heating oil, healthcare, and disaster relief to America's working class. The U.S. government has provided nothing but war, sanctions, and suffering.

This Is Class War—and We Choose Sides

Trump's attack on Venezuela is an attack on working people everywhere. When the U.S. invades countries for oil, it's not "America" that benefits—it's ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Wall Street hedge funds. When California invests our pension money in weapons companies, it's not working families who profit—it's defense contractors and billionaire shareholders.

The Ramsey campaign stands with the international working class. An injury to one is an injury to all. We stand with the Venezuelan people's right to self-determination and with working people everywhere fighting for dignity, sovereignty, and freedom from U.S. domination.

What the Ramsey Campaign Will Do

As Governor, Ramsey Robinson will take concrete action to end California's complicity in war and imperialism:

Divest from War and Apartheid. We will mandate full divestment from weapons manufacturers and companies profiting from war and Israeli apartheid. That means pulling $32 billion from CalPERS, CalSTRS, and all California state pension funds. That creates $32 billion in reinvestment in affordable housing, universal healthcare, and guaranteed union jobs for Californians—not bombs and occupation.

Defend Immigrants and Refugees. We will make California a true sanctuary state, banning all cooperation with ICE and providing full rights to everyone who lives here—regardless of immigration status. When U.S. wars create refugee crises, California will protect those forced to flee, not criminalize them.

Build Peace, Not War. We will use California's massive economic power—the 4th largest economy in the world—to model what's possible when we choose people over profit. We'll guarantee housing, healthcare, and living-wage union jobs for all, proving that another world is possible.

Our Power Comes From Standing Together

Working people have the power to stop this war, but only if we organize.

Register to vote with the Peace and Freedom Party — California's only ballot qualified socialist party.

The Peace and Freedom Party was born out of the anti-Vietnam War movement. It is explicitly anti-war and anti-imperialist. When you register PFP and vote for Ramsey Robinson, you're casting a vote against war and for working-class power. We'll help you fight the rigged system and talk to your neighbors, coworkers, and family about what's really happening in Venezuela—by exposing the lies and building the movement for socialism. That’s the only solution that stops this for good.

Hands off Venezuela. No more wars for billionaire profits. Join us.

Ramsey Robinson for Governor | Register to vote Peace and Freedom Party

Sign up to volunteer: www.ramsey4gov.com/#getinvolved

The Ramsey for Governor campaign is running on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket—California's socialist party committed to breaking the power of the billionaire class, ending U.S. wars abroad, and building a government that serves working people, not Wall Street.