Global trade unions express support for Venezuela amid rising tensions with the United States: Video
Trade union representatives from across the world gathered in Caracas on Wednesday, December 17, to express support for Venezuela, as tensions with the United States continued to intensify.
The show of solidarity took place during the Constituent Congress of the Working Class, an international meeting that brought together more than 1,000 delegates from 60 countries.
Participants said the congress aimed to reaffirm commitments to peace and to the sovereignty of Latin American nations. The event was framed by organisers as part of a broader international discussion on external pressure, geopolitical influence and the role of labour movements in defending national self-determination.
Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yvan Gil Pinto, used the gathering to draw attention to the scale of the US military presence in the Caribbean, which he described as the largest the region has seen. He accused Washington of pursuing policies rooted in colonialism and imperialism, arguing that military operations were driven by competition over strategic resources rather than by efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Similar concerns were raised by Said Gafurov, a professor at Moscow University, who placed Venezuela’s situation within a wider global context. “The Global North is trying to increase its control over all natural resources in the world,” he said, arguing that this dynamic extends beyond Venezuela to include Russia, the Middle East and other resource-rich regions.
Relations between Caracas and Washington deteriorated further after US President Donald Trump stated on social media that the military campaign in the Caribbean would continue until Venezuela returned assets he claimed had been taken from the United States. Following the comments, President Nicolás Maduro held a phone call with UN Secretary-General António Guterres to raise concerns over what the Venezuelan government describes as growing threats to the country and its population.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
