CSC statement on US escalation in the Caribbean - Hands Off Venezuela – Hands Off Cuba!
Campaign News | Thursday, 11 December 2025
Hands Off Venezuela – Hands Off Cuba!
The Cuba Solidarity Campaign unequivocally condemns the illegal seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker by US military forces on 10 December. This aggressive act is not only an attack on Venezuela, it is an assault on international law, regional stability, and the rights of sovereign nations to trade freely.
We call on the UK government to publicly denounce this act of maritime piracy, insist on the immediate release of the vessel and its cargo, and call on the US government to withdraw its military forces and end its dangerous escalation in the Caribbean.
The tanker seizure marks a serious intensification of the long-standing campaign to destabilise and overthrow the sovereign government of Venezuela. For over two decades, successive US administrations have backed coup attempts, funded opposition groups, interfered in elections, and waged economic warfare through sweeping sanctions. Now, Washington has shifted from covert interference to direct military confrontation.
Under the false pretext of a “war on drugs,” US forces have attacked more than twenty vessels in recent months, killing at least 87 people in incidents the United Nations has condemned as extrajudicial executions. The deployment of twelve US warships, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier, and 15,000 troops off the coast of Venezuela represents the biggest US military build-up in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama.
A threat to the whole region
US intervention threatens energy supplies, shipping lanes, trade routes and the livelihoods of millions across Latin America and the Caribbean. But it is also a deliberate assault on Cuba. During the first Trump administration, Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba were sanctioned to worsen shortages. Today, by attacking trade between Cuba and its closest regional partner, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are pursuing their long-held objective: to isolate, economically strangle, and politically destabilise both Cuba and Venezuela.
CSC echoes Cuba’s condemnation of the seizure as a “vile act of piracy” that “contravenes the rules of free trade and freedom of navigation, in open violation of international law.”
Stand with Venezuela and Cuba
At this dangerous time we must stand together to defend peace, sovereignty, and the right of nations to determine their own futures. CSC calls on all members, supporters, and trade union affiliates to join the global opposition to US aggression, amplify demands for de-escalation, and stand in solidarity with Venezuela and Cuba against imperialist intervention.
Cuba Solidarity Campaign, 11 December 2025
