{ "article": { "title" : "Dissonant Solidarity: Venezuela and the International Left", "author" : "Luken Ignacio Quintana", "category" : "essays", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/dissonant-solidarity", "date" : "2026-01-12 16:36:00 -0500", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/Img%2001.jpg", "excerpt" : "", "content" : "This clarification might be unnecessary, but since this article has a very specific target audience, I want to make sure that after reading the title, your ideological programming doesn’t short-circuit and cause you to stop before reaching what is truly important:I do not subscribe to the ideas, the methods, or the discourse of Donald Trump - nor to neoliberalism, nor to imperialism (of any kind). Much less do I celebrate the death of compatriots of any kind, nor the fact that, at least for the foreseeable future, we Venezuelans have been incapable of providing a solution to our own problems - neither through peaceful means nor by force - to guarantee some degree of control over our own destiny.My family, Venezuelan and Basque, is a melting pot of anti-Francoist/anti-fascist exiles - persecuted Republicans who had to flee after the fall of the Second Spanish Republic (never to return) - and working-class Venezuelans who made the transition from the countryside to the city in a true display of social mobility as our democracy, now absolutely destroyed, consolidated itself during the 20th century.Furthermore, I am a product of Venezuela’s free, public university education system and a staunch defender of its autonomy.All of this makes me fundamentally opposed to totalitarianism, impositions, and, of course, social injustice. It also makes me understand the need for international law and order that guarantees we do not return to an era where strong states can trample the weak without consequence.Even if none of the above were true, the suffering of an individual or a collective - especially the level of suffering we Venezuelans have endured (forced migration, humiliation, political persecution, fear, torture, extrajudicial executions, legal and illegal abuses, impoverishment, and much more) - does not cease to be real simply because the person suffering does not share your worldview.If you have made it this far and are capable of empathizing with what I’ve explained, keep reading. If not, you are just one more “lost cause” - one of those who put pseudo-ideological loyalties before critical thinking; perhaps something closer to a religious fanatic than a human capable of experiencing pain through the eyes of another or showing some empathy. Some “solidarity” that is!If you have the perception that the vast majority of Venezuelans you encounter lean to the right and influence your country’s politics by voting for and backing candidates you dislike, the reason is quite simple:EVERY ABUSE COMMITTED IN VENEZUELA OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS WAS DONE IN THE NAME OF SOCIALISM.Yes, we can debate at length which of Chávez’s - and later Maduro’s - policies were truly leftist; whether the system’s collapse was due to corruption or a structural flaw in its conception; whether the dream was diverted; whether Marx, Gramsci, Bernstein, or Rosa Luxemburg; reform or revolution; Bolívar, Sandino, Che, or Martí; pragmatic communism; or whether “it doesn’t matter the color of the cat as long as it catches mice.”It doesn’t matter. None of these intellectual justifications matter (nor will they ever matter) to the mother of a student murdered in a protest; to the person who had to cross the Andes on foot; to the person who swallowed a ton of tear gas claiming their rights; or to the person who lost everything the moment they left their homeland.In English, it is often said that even a broken clock is right twice a day. That Maduro is in a cell is good for Venezuelans, regardless of how it happened and regardless of the major reservations that remain about whether there will be a true transition to democracy.How This Finally HappenedFor years, the regional left, the European left, and a good part of the global left - what Teodoro Petkoff called the “Borbonic Left” because of its inability to mutate, adapt to the times, or recognize past mistakes - not only ignored the thousands of complaints we made from Venezuela but openly cheered the “Bolivarian Revolution” while it advanced its designs based on a petro-checkbook that would later deflate.These complaints came from across the entire political spectrum: from Marxist-Leninist organizations like the Communist Party of Venezuela or Bandera Roja; social democrats like Acción Democrática or Un Nuevo Tiempo; centrist or Christian-democratic parties like Primero Justicia or Voluntad Popular; and others further into liberalism like Vente Venezuela, María Corina Machado’s party. A polyphony of voices pointing to the same thing: human rights were being violated in Venezuela and the population was being trampled.It wasn’t just political parties. Labor unions, social movements, professional guilds, NGOs (those that have a lot of legitimacy when they talk about Gaza but none when they talk about Caracas), university movements, and intellectuals - everyone denounced, over and over again, how the democratic space was closing and we were falling at an accelerated pace into a kleptocratic nightmare with totalitarian overtones.Many leftist personalities, some who have even become global icons, held power during this time: Lula, Gustavo Petro, Michelle Bachelet, Gabriel Boric, Pepe Mujica, Pedro Sánchez, just to name a few. Their positions, when they had the chance to seriously confront what was happening in Venezuela, moved between lukewarm denunciation and direct logistical, economic, and political support for the regime.It is true that some, behind the scenes and timidly, made diplomatic efforts to find a solution when the crisis began to cross borders and the continent filled with refugees. But it was clearly insufficient. In most cases, their principles - or their selfish interests - did not allow them to recognize the level of disaster they had legitimized.Hiding behind the errors, blunders, and - in many cases - severely questionable behavior of the opposition leadership, they washed their hands of their neighbors’ suffering and dropped the flag of justice. Despite their own countries having gone through equally terrible dictatorships or conflicts, they did not confront the victimizers - which is equivalent to ignoring the victims, no matter what justification they want to give now.Gravity does not forgive; a vacuum calls to whoever wants to fill it. In the Venezuelan case, it has been filled by Donald Trump and his allies - whose values are absolutely foreign to me and many Venezuelans - whose focus is shamelessly on profiting from a collapsed country, but whose interests (at least instantaneously on January 3rd) aligned with the aspirations of millions who felt abandoned and betrayed by those who should have been the first at their side.It’s okay. You are still in time to collaborate and help Venezuelans without giving up your convictions. By doing so, you won’t be helping Donald Trump - or maybe you will, I don’t know - but fundamentally you will be contributing to improving our lives and those of our families.How can you do it? First, by understanding several things:Maduro is not a revolutionary kidnapped by the empire. He is also likely not the head of a cartel (at least in the strict sense of the word). He is simply a dictator and a criminal responsible for the collapse of a country; the death of hundreds of protesters; and thousands of extrajudicial executions - who openly ignored the popular will after the July 28, 2024 elections. Along with military and civilians (like the Rodríguez siblings) who remain in charge of the country, he is also responsible for the embezzlement of billions of dollars of Venezuelan resources.The “Bolivarian Revolution” never stopped selling oil to the United States. Yes, they diversified their client portfolio and allied with Russia and China as an alternative. But for a good part of the last 25 years - even in the most heated moments of bilateral relations - business with the “gringos” never ended. Chevron - yes, the same Chevron with a criminal record - was, for the last few years, one of the regime’s main economic supporters, with special permits to operate despite sanctions.Although this doesn’t directly justify a foreign military intervention, Venezuelan sovereignty has been compromised for years. The levels of debt acquired by Venezuela with Russians and Chinese in exchange for geopolitical support, or the lifeline thrown from Caracas to Havana to keep another dictatorial regime standing with our money, are just a few concrete examples that the government’s anti-imperialist discourse does not hold up. The documented presence of Colombian irregular groups controlling territory and illegal business flows is another. So is the confirmation by the Cuban government that most of the military who died protecting Maduro came from that country.Maduro offered a “blank check” to Donald Trump. Before his capture, he offered Trump and American companies the chance to massively exploit Venezuelan oil in exchange for legitimizing him in power and forgetting the 2024 presidential elections. It was a pragmatic deal that Trump and Marco Rubio were not willing to make with him - but they were with his successors, at least for the moment.The January 3rd operation bears the marks of betrayal. It is known that the CIA had assets infiltrated inside the government who provided information on Maduro’s location and habits. It is also still debated whether the absolute collapse of anti-aircraft defenses was due only to the military superiority of the units involved - or if there was internal help in deactivating them. One day it will be known.While you scream about “intervention,” the supposed victims have already turned the page and are “open for business,” capitulating and striking deals with the Americans to protect their lives, their impunity, or their indefinite hold on power. This deal had already been offered since the last quarter of 2024 in Qatar.The economic collapse started long before the sanctions. It began when oil prices collapsed after being inflated by George W. Bush’s blunders in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shortly before dying, Chávez himself announced the need for an absolute shift in the economic model that never materialized. One could argue the military man himself saw the inviability of his project - and died before facing the consequences.You don’t have to like María Corina Machado to recognize her leadership. Many, like me, see how she has been displaced by the very forces she set in motion. In a country where democracy returns, we would have the possibility to settle that conflict peacefully and electorally.The poor and the working class in Venezuela ARE NOT WITH MADURO. That myth ended years ago; it possibly was never entirely real. In 2015, the opposition coalition swept the elections. From that moment on, the regime decided not to truly compete for ten years. And when it did so again in 2024, it was razed at the polls. Today, the repudiation of Chavismo is not a matter of class - it is a cross-cutting sentiment in our country.Government propaganda financed a global campaign. Aided largely by the Russian communication apparatus (see the alliance between Telesur and RT), they reached out to “alternative” causes worldwide - from Palestine to the Sahara; from sectors of the Basque Left to pan-Arabist regimes; from Iranian theocracy to the anti-globalist U.S. protesters of the early 2000s and Black Lives Matter. They wove a network that allowed Chavismo to present itself as a patron of progressive causes while using the military boot to repress and murder in its own territory.Venezuelan society is as broad as yours and deserves the chance to reconfigure itself freely. The privileges and benefits you enjoy were forcibly canceled for us for two and a half decades, and when you defend the ones who did it, you re-victimize an entire population.Don’t take my word for it. As soon as you finish reading this, do your own research. Look at the numbers and statistics again with new eyes. Talk to those of us who have suffered this firsthand. Get out of the echo chamber you have carefully curated on social media and take a walk through the real world.Then, mobilize with us so that, instead of throwing a tantrum and complaining fruitlessly about the actions of the U.S. government, you can pressure your own country, your party comrades, or your peers to stand up against those who seek to commit similar abuses in other parts of the world.Help us push a collective cry to ensure that everything that has happened opens the way for a true democratic transition in Venezuela - finishing the dismantling of the remnants of the dictatorship that now servilely seek to get on good terms with the “new master,” so as not to be definitively replaced.If after all this you still don’t understand, then, respectfully and using your own terminology: do not seek to help anymore - and at least do not go protest in front of a gringo embassy after you failed to do so in front of one of ours.HANDS OFF F*CKING VENEZUELA." } , "relatedposts": [ { "title" : "Trump’s attack on Venezuela: An Exemplary Punishment", "author" : "Simón Rodriguez", "category" : "essays", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/trumps-attack-on-venezuela-an-exemplary-punishment", "date" : "2026-01-14 10:13:00 -0500", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/Uncle_Sam_Straddles_the_Americas_Cartoon.jpg", "excerpt" : "After four months of maritime siege in which the US military killed more than 100 people in alleged anti-drug trafficking operations and seized oil tankers, as well as the bombing of a small dock in northwestern Venezuela, Trump launched a large-scale attack and kidnapped de facto ruler Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were in Fuerte Tiuna, the country’s main military complex in Caracas.", "content" : "After four months of maritime siege in which the US military killed more than 100 people in alleged anti-drug trafficking operations and seized oil tankers, as well as the bombing of a small dock in northwestern Venezuela, Trump launched a large-scale attack and kidnapped de facto ruler Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were in Fuerte Tiuna, the country’s main military complex in Caracas.The invaders attacked civilian targets such as the port of La Guaira, the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research, the Charallave airport, and electrical transmission infrastructure, as well as military installations in Caracas, Maracay, and Higuerote. The preliminary toll is around 80 dead and more than a hundred wounded. The US government claims that it suffered no casualties and that it had the support of infiltrators working for the CIA. This internal collaboration was crucial to the success of the attack.The Venezuelan military defeat has political causes, beyond US technical superiority. Chavismo has prioritized coup-proofing over military effectiveness, going so far as to have one of the highest rates of generals per capita in the world, who have been given control of various economic sectors for cronyism. Furthermore, the government lacks a military strategy for asymmetric resistance to imperialist aggression. During Chávez’s administration, in 2007, there was debate over which military model to adopt. Retired General Müller Rojas criticized the large investments in sophisticated military equipment, proposed by then-Defense Minister Raúl Isaías Baduel, proposing instead a doctrine of popular resistance and asymmetric warfare. Chávez settled the debate in Baduel’s favor, and in the following years, the Venezuelan government spent billions of dollars on arms purchases from Russia and China. This equipment proved useless in the face of the US attack, as the late Müller Rojas predicted, but it was part of the patronage system that enriched the Chavista military. Ironically, Baduel died as a political prisoner in 2021.Corrupt military personnel may be useful for repressing workers, students, or Indigenous peoples, but they can always be bribed. Maduro himself does not seem to have had much confidence in the Venezuelan military, having entrusted his security largely to Cuban military personnel, 32 of whom died in the US attack.Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed the interim presidency. She declared a state of emergency to avoid the constitutional requirement to call elections in the event of the head of state’s absence. The US government has stated that, through the continuation of the naval blockade and the threat of a second attack, it hopes to ensure that the Venezuelan government serves US interests. When asked whether they would use this pressure to demand the release of Venezuelan political prisoners, Trump responded emphatically that he is interested in oil, and everything else can wait.The rights of Venezuelans have never interested Trump, as demonstrated not only by his lack of interest in democratic rights in Venezuela, but also by the racist persecution of Venezuelan immigrants in the US, stigmatized by Trump as criminals and mentally ill people allegedly sent by Maduro to “invade” the country, a fascistic discourse endorsed by the Venezuelan right-wing leader María Corina Machado. Thousands of Venezuelans have been deported to Venezuela, while hundreds have been sent to the CECOT, Latin America’s largest torture center, run by the dictatorship of El Salvador, under false accusations of belonging to the Tren de Aragua, a gang classified as a terrorist organization by Trump.Delcy Rodríguez has reportedly already reached an agreement with Trump to deliver between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil. The US government would sell the oil, establishing offshore accounts for this purpose outside the control of its own Treasury Department; part of the petrodollars generated would be used to pay debtors, and payments in kind would be made to the Venezuelan state, including equipment and supplies for oil production itself, as well as food and medicine.This policy bears similarities to the “Oil for food” program applied as part of the sanctions regime of the 1990s against Iraq. That program became a huge source of corruption in the UN. We can expect something similar or worse from Trump’s corrupt government.We are facing a new version of imperialist “gunboat diplomacy” and the methods of the “Roosevelt Corollary,” on which the US based its invasion of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the first half of the 20th century, taking control of their customs, as in the cases of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua.Rodríguez’s capitulation has been interpreted by some as evidence that her rise to power was agreed with Trump and that she represents a pro-US government. Certainly, Chavismo’s anti-imperialism was always rather performative, with the US maintaining a predominant presence in the oil industry through Chevron, and the US remaining Venezuela’s main trading partner until at least 2023. But diplomatic relations have not been reestablished, and the theft of Venezuelan oil has been enforced through a naval blockade and threats of new attacks, when the possibilities of storing oil on land or in ships off the Venezuelan coast reached their limit and the alternative was to stop production.The regime decided to cooperate with the extortionist Trump, not to resist. The traditional right-wing opposition, which celebrated the January 3 attack (describing it as the beginning of Venezuela’s liberation), welcomes Trump’s measures. Not even Trump’s humiliation of Machado, when he declared she lacked “support” and “respect” within Venezuela, has led Venezuelan Trumpists to regain a modicum of sobriety. Their entire political strategy, after Maduro’s 2024 electoral fraud, has been solely to wait for Trump to hand them power.Trump’s priorities are different, although they could converge in the future with Machado: to distract attention from recently published documents reflecting his friendship with the criminal Jeffrey Epstein; to enhance his foreign policy based on extortion, refuting the Democratic slogan “Trump Always Chickens Out”, and to manage billions of petrodollars at the service of his business circle. And finally, in a more strategic sense, it represents the application of the new National Security doctrine, which gives priority to absolute US control of the hemisphere, expelling its imperialist competitors, China and Russia. Venezuela represented the most vulnerable point in the hemisphere for spectacular and exemplary military action. After the attack on Venezuela, threats against Colombia, Mexico, and even Greenland follow.Chavismo itself largely created its own vulnerability after years of anti-popular and anti-worker policies, such as imposing a minimum wage of less than USD$5 per month, eliminating workers’ freedom of association, persecuting indigenous peoples, defunding public health and education, and forcing the migration of 8 million Venezuelan workers, all while favoring the emergence of a new Bolivarian bourgeoisie through rampant corruption, creating new chasms of social inequality.Until 2015, Chavismo ruled with the support of electoral majorities. After its defeat in that year’s parliamentary elections, it took a dictatorial turn, relying on repression and electoral fraud, while bleeding the economy dry to pay off foreign debt, creating hellish hyperinflation. The economy contracted by around 80% between 2013 and 2021, most of this before US sanctions. The destruction was such that the export of scrap metal, obtained from the dismantling of abandoned industries, became one of Venezuela’s largest exports.It is illustrative to recall the cables from the US embassy in Caracas to the State Department, published by Wikileaks, which asked the Obama administration not to publicly confront Chávez, as this would strengthen him in the context of widespread popular rejection of the US. The current situation is different, with many Venezuelans cynically accepting US domination. Opposing imperialist intervention, on the other hand, does not save dissidents from persecution either. The presidential candidate backed by the Communist Party of Venezuela in 2024, Enrique Márquez, has been in prison for 10 months without formal charges.The humiliation to which the Venezuelan people are subjected today, under the double yoke of a dictatorship and a US siege, is brutal. The policy of aggression against Latin America and the Caribbean, the perceived sphere of US dominance, gains momentum with this attack. A continental response, to defend the possibility of a free and dignified future for Venezuela and for all of Latin America and the Caribbean." } , { "title" : "A Lone Protester, Rain or Shine: One Man’s Daily Act of Dissent in Japan", "author" : "Yumiko Sakuma", "category" : "essays", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/a-lone-protester-rain-or-shine", "date" : "2026-01-13 10:00:00 -0500", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/Cover_EIP_Lone_Gaza_Japan.jpg", "excerpt" : "Photographs by Chisato Hikita", "content" : "Photographs by Chisato HikitaThe way Japan’s grassroots activism has shown up for the people of Palestine has been nothing short of extraordinary. In a country known for its low political engagement, I’ve met countless newly woken activists who not only joined the international movement but have also incorporated direct action into their daily lives through street protests, fundraising events and content creation, writing campaigns, etc. Many of them express frustration that demonstrations in Japan aren’t as large as those abroad, or that their efforts seem to yield little visible change, but their persistence and quiet stubbornness are unlike anything I’ve ever seen.One of the figures who has emerged from this movement is Yusuke Furusawa, who has taken to the streets every single day, seven days a week, for more than two years, usually for an hour or so each time. I came across him on social media and reached out while I was in Tokyo.The day we met was an excruciatingly hot Saturday in July. On my way to meet him near Shinjuku Station, a sprawling terminal of train lines, subways, and shopping complexes, he messaged to say he’d had to relocate because of a nearby Uyoku (right-wing nationalist) presence. As I exited one wing of the station, I passed a large crowd gathered around Uryu Hirano, a young hardline activist who had just lost her bid for a national council seat.Then I found Furusawa, delivering a monologue about what the Palestinian people have been enduring, about the complicity of the Japanese government, and about the tangled relationship between the U.S. military-industrial complex and the Israeli state. He stood in the middle of two opposing streams of foot traffic, turning every few seconds to address people coming from both directions, waving a large flag and holding a sign that read “Stop GAZA Genocide.”In October 2023, he had been home-bound for Covid. “I was frustrated because I wanted to go to the protests but couldn’t. Finally, feeling restless, I eventually stumbled out holding a placard, that’s how it all began. When I thought about how I’ve never really taken any actions on this issue while seeing these terrible situations unfolding every day, I just couldn’t sort out my feelings.”Furusawa makes his living as a prop maker for a broadcasting company while occasionally getting gigs as a theater actor. He wasn’t particularly political until a few years ago when he joined a local grass-roots movement to elect Satoko Kishimoto, an environmental activist and water rights activist who had lived in Belgium, to be Suginami Ward mayor against the pro-business, pro-development  incumbent. Especially, he was inspired by the Hitori Gaisen, solo street demonstration,  movement which was triggered by one person who decided to campaign by standing quietly on the street with a sign, which spread like a wild fire and resulted in a win by Kishimoto, a move viewed as a victory of the People, who were determined to stop the over development and gentrification.'I’m not really good at group activities, so rallies and marches aren’t really my thing. I get too tired trying too hard to chant or keep up with everyone else.”  Previously, he had been suffering from depression. “This has been helpful like as a daily rehabilitation activity.”Thus, he stands alone, daily and consistently. As I watched him speak under the glaring sun, I was struck by how most people don’t even look up, or notice him, seemingly so self-absorbed or focused on where they are going. Occasionally, non-Japanese people stop and take pictures of/with him. While I was there, a mother and a kid from Turkey stopped him to thank him through a translation app on her phone. She had tears in her eyes. Furusawa said he does get yelled at a few times a day and was once even choked by a person who identified as an IDF personnel.This was a few days after July 20th, when Japan had a national council election where more than 8 million people voted for candidates from the Sansei Party, which ran on “Japanese First” platform and a far-right, nationalist political messaging. Furusawa says, a few Japanese people who walk up to him with encouraging signs tend to be ultra nationalists and conservatives. “A lot of times, these guys who say to me ‘you are great for standing against the United States,’ are far right people, which makes me feel defeated.” And there are younger ones who mock him or laugh at him.Do you have an idea as to how long you’d be doing this? I asked him. Furusawa told me about the time an Aljazeela crew came to his apartment to shoot a segment on him. When he told them, “I will stop if Israel stopped bombing Gaza,” the reporter said, “That is how Japanese people forget about the Middle East.” Furusawa thinks about this episode daily. “I realized I hadn’t understood anything at all, and I felt this helplessness like all my actions over the past four months were being erased in an instant. That’s when I made the decision to do it every day. Those words swirled around me daily.”After I came back to New York, I procrastinated writing this story. I tried writing it many times in my head, but between being disappointed in the surge of xenophobia and racism in Japan, dealing with medical issues and being scared as an immigrant, my head was not in the right place to give a proper ending to this story. Then, so called “ceasefire” was announced. I thought of him and reached out.I apologized to him for not writing a story sooner. “I didn’t know how to write the story without glorifying the protest movements.”He told me attacks by people from Israel were happening increasingly, probably like three times more, especially after the UK recognized the state of Palestine. “They come at me with anger. I’ve also met a few people from Palestine thanking me with tears for what I do. I feel l need to keep a distance from these emotions because what I am really protesting against is the illegal occupation and apartheid of Palestine and how we are not really facing it.”He hadn’t stopped his protests, still standing out there every day with a flag and a sign, delivering his monologue. He does so because, for one, he did not trust the “ceasefire,” but also because what he stands against is not just the current wave of assaults, bombing, starvation, etc.“I want to keep going until we seriously tackle the issue, not just go through the superficial motions of Palestine’s state recognition. It isn’t about just stopping the war. It is about getting people to care so that nations collectively help them. I am not talking about months, more like years because it is going to take time.”Lately, after spending an hour on anti-genocide protest, he stands with another sign for 30 minutes or so before he goes home. The sign says “Delusion of Hate.” That is because he thinks Japan’s xenophobia and hatred come from delusions. “A mix of victim mentality and inferiority complex, plus delusions inflated by conspiracy theories that don’t even exist.”That is when I realized what he is really fighting is indifference. He went on, “Some might find my style of protests noisy, annoying, or unpleasant. I want them to reject it. I want to get on their nerves, or talk to their hearts. Maybe that is how we can break through the indifference. That is going to take time, like years of time.”" } , { "title" : "Sanctions are a Tool of Empire", "author" : "Collis Browne", "category" : "essays", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/sanctions-are-a-tool-of-empire", "date" : "2026-01-13 08:35:00 -0500", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/Cover_EIP_Sanctions.jpg", "excerpt" : "Sanctions & Embargoes only Hurt the People", "content" : "Sanctions & Embargoes only Hurt the PeopleIn light of the economic collapse and ongoing social and political unrest in Venezuela and Iran, we must examine U.S. economic sanctions and how they contribute to and exacerbate these dynamics.Although framed as something much more innocuous or even righteous, sanctions are a form of economic warfare used to enforce U.S. & Western empire.What Sanctions AreSanctions block a country’s sovereign ability to act freely in a global world. They restrict trade, banking, investment, and access to global markets.Despite the myth of “free markets,” sanctions show how capitalism really works: Markets are only free when they serve power.They are usually installed against nations that show signs of independence from US and Western (capitalist) interests, such as any meaningful socialist policies, nationalizing resources or limiting foreign ownership or resources or property.Although the claim is usually around “punishing” a government for human rights abuses, There are plenty of governments that commit egregious human rights abuses that are never sanctioned because of favorable business policies towards US interests (global western capital), The US is itself guilty of grave human rights abuses both at home and abroad, so cannot claim to have any moral authority, and Many of the abuses are either exaggerated, outright fabricated, or are simply scapegoats to cover the real motives. To be clear: this does not excuse human rights abuses by any government, but sanctions are never the answer: they are never driven by a moral imperative, and are never successful in improving the materials conditions of the people of the countries affected.How Sanctions are UsedUS foreign policy uses sanctions as a key part of a familiar playbook: Claim that a government is a “dictatorship” or “threat” to democracy or security Cut the country off from trade and money Cause shortages, inflation, and unemployment People suffer — food, medicine, fuel become scarce Blame the suffering on the government, not the sanctions Further stir up unrest by covert actions on the ground agitating dissent and violence Often, provide material support for right-wing political opposition that favors US intervention and resource privatizationThe goal is pressure, chaos, and instability.The End GoalSanctions are a foundational step in a long-term campaign to destabilize a country or region by creating enough pain to force one of the following outcomes: Install a pro-U.S. government Enable or justify a coup Pave the way for military interventionAll of these are about resource extraction and unfettered access for multinational and Western corporations.Fact 1: Sanctions Don’t WorkSanctions Don’t Achieve Their Stated Political GoalsSince 1970, nearly 90% of sanctions have failed — meaning they did not force the target government to change its behavior or leadership. Report after report show that sanctions don’t produce freedom, democracy or peace, they produce suffering.Fact 2: Sanctions Punish PeopleSanctions Hurt the People, Not LeadersAcross 32 empirical studies*, sanctions were shown to: Increase poverty Increase inequality Increase mortality Worsen human rights outcomesRegional oligarchs and elites adapt, while ordinary people pay the price.Example: IraqIraq (1990s) Sanctions destroyed water, food, and healthcare systems Hundreds of thousands of civilians — many of them children — died as a direct result Saddam Hussein retained power, up until the eventual US invasionSanctions weakened the population, not the ruler.Example: VenezuelaVenezuela (2010s–present) Oil and banking sanctions collapsed imports and currency Medicine and food shortages surged Tens of thousands of excess deaths Massive emigration as millions fled the countryThe government survived. The people suffered. If anything, the sanctions contributed to the rise of the right-wing opposition against the strong socialist base of support.Example: SyriaSyria (2011–present) Sanctions began early in the conflict and intensified economic collapse They worsened shortages, unemployment, and infrastructure failure Economic destabilization deepened social fragmentation and displacementSanctions did not overthrow the government, but they amplified collapse, suffering, and long-term instability, making recovery and reconstruction nearly impossible.Example: IranIran (since 1979, and especially 2018–present) Sanctions targeted oil exports and global banking access Iran was cut off from foreign currency earnings The rial collapsed; inflation surged sharplySanctions directly restrict access to dollars and euros — forcing rapid currency devaluation, import inflation, and rising prices for basics even when goods are technically “allowed.”Inflation hits civilians first.Sanctions are a Tool of EmpireSanctions are a tool of global capitalist imperialism, and movements against US intervention must include a call against sanctions. They do not bring freedom or democracy. They enrich global financial elites, preserve imperial control, and devastate everyday people — again and again." } ] }