By Carly Brook with Orinoco Tribune contentAt least 21 aerial strikes off the coast of Venezuela that have extrajudicially killed over 82 people, from Venezuela, Colombia, and Trinidad and Tobago with no due process. With outrage in response to these murders and significant US military buildup near Venezuela, an urgent and coordinated week of action for Venezuela from November 15-23 started Saturday, with over 50 actions across the US and a growing international response. The demonstrations, organized by over 35 organizations forming a rapid response network, are demanding no war on Venezuela, the withdrawal of the US military from the Caribbean, and respect for the CELAC declared “Zone of Peace” across the hemisphere.These actions come as the US deploys an aircraft carrier battle group, including destroyers, jet fighters, and nuclear submarines, to the Caribbean. The Trump administration has openly called for the military overthrow of Venezuela’s President Maduro and the replacement of Colombia’s President Petro, constituting a blatant violation of international law and the sovereignty of nations. The Trump administration has propagandized ‘narcoterrorism operations’ drawing together the deadly US “war on terror” framework with the devastating US “war on drugs,” both mechanisms to assert the US military agenda over working class and oppressed communities within the US and in its “spheres of influence” abroad. Activists condemn the US government’s justification for the escalation. In reality, “this is a build-up to another endless US war – a war to militarize the whole Western Hemisphere and reassert the Monroe Doctrine,” said Tom Burke of the Anti-War Action Network. “The strategy is a textbook example of escalating hybrid warfare. It blends military, economic, and informational tools to destabilize the adversary.” said Rhonda Ramiro of the Resist US-led War Movement. A stringent sanctions regime continues to target Venezuela’s oil industry, its primary revenue source. Recent license adjustments explicitly restrict cash payments to the Maduro government, tightening the financial noose. The economic coercion is compounded by an unprecedented $50 million bounty on President Maduro’s head, personalizing the pressure campaign.It reflects a greater crisis of US militarization of the Caribbean, as well. The reactivation of the Roosevelt Roads base in Puerto Rico as a staging ground, despite local protests, provides the strategic footprint for these operations, echoing historical uses of US territories for interventionism. US military aggression, framed as targeting Venezuela, threatens the entire Caribbean’s sovereignty and stability.This pretext masks the true economic motives behind the aggression. “This move towards all-out war has nothing to do with drug trafficking, cartels or the wellbeing of Americans facing a drug crisis,” stated Joe Lombardo, Co-Coordinator of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC). He continued, “Venezuela possesses the greatest known oil reserves in the world. The Venezuelan government refuses to be dominated by the US and is determined to use its own oil, gas, and mineral resources for the benefit of its own people, not for US corporations.” For their stand for their self-determination, the Venezuelan people and nation are being targeted by extreme US military pressure operating in tandem with a sustained economic war. US domestic repression and militarization goes hand in hand with the extreme military aggression in the Caribbean. “We draw a direct line between militarism abroad and repression in the US, highlighting the contradiction of increased defense spending while critical domestic programs that impact the working class like SNAP benefits and healthcare face draconian cuts,” stated Ajamu Baraka from the Black Alliance for Peace. Meanwhile, the use of Federal troops and thousands of ICE agents in raids and mass arrests, along with massive increases in health costs and cuts to government services, are an attack on all working people in the US. Migrants from Venezuela, who have been subject to a tirade of fascist attacks, mass deportation and detention since arriving in the US, are driven to leave their country in the first place due to US sanctions and economic warfare. A full blown military conflict in the Caribbean would multiply the number of migrants arriving to the US. Veterans who have served in US’ wars add their solidarity to the fight. “Hundreds of thousands of US veterans deeply regret having fought in illegal wars that were based on lies like the ones now being told about Venezuela,” said Gerry Condon of Veterans For Peace. “We remind today’s active duty GI’s that they have the right and responsibility to refuse to participate in illegal wars and war crimes.” The message from the growing movement is clear: it is time for the public to take to the streets to resist these government and corporate attacks on the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, and to stop the simultaneous militarization and repression of people within the United States.US SOUTHCOM Announces Three New Killings in Pacific Ocean StrikeVenezuela salutes White House demonstrationVenezuela saluted the demonstration held Saturday in front of the White House, where people demanded an end to US interventionism and wars against other countries, while US nationals still face a lack of access to free healthcare services and other fundamental rights.“On behalf of President Nicolás Maduro, we salute this courageous demonstration in front of the White House, where an end to interventionism and wars against other countries is demanded,” Foreign Minister Yván Gil wrote on social media.Gil emphasized that US nationals themselves denounce the war machine of the US government, which diverts funds that should go to social programs intended for its own population. He added that the US uses the resources to finance the deployment of troops and warships to the Caribbean and threatens Venezuela with the aim of seizing its natural resources.About the rapid response networkThe coordinated mobilization is supported by over 35 organizations: United National Antiwar Coalition, Venezuela Solidarity Network, US Peace Council, All-African People’s Party-GC, All-African People’s Party, Alliance for Global Justice, Code Pink, Chicago ALBA Solidarity, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, Peace and Solidarity Commission of the Communist Party USA, School of the Americas Watch, Task Force on the Americas, Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Minnesota Solidarity Network of the Americas, Sanctions Kill Campaign, Workers World Party, Periodismo de Verdad, Resist U.S. Led War, Honduras Solidarity Network, Cross Border Network, National Network on Cuba, Black Alliance for Peace, Anti War Action Network, Women Against Military Madness, Kawsachun News, Popular Resistance, International Action Center, Casa Baltimore Limay, Friends of Latin America. Veterans For Peace, Orinoco Tribune, Los Ronderos de las Redes, Diáspora Pa’lante Collective, Peoples Power Assembly, Rochester Committee on Latin America (ROCLA), Green Renaissance-Sovereign Rights Movement, Struggle for Socialism Party, Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice. (Resist US-Led War Movement)