The United States government must cease interfering in Venezuela’s internal politics, especially for the purpose of overthrowing the country’s government. Actions by the Trump administration and its allies in the hemisphere are almost certain to make the situation in Venezuela worse, leading to unnecessary human suffering, violence, and instability.

Venezuela’s political polarization is not new; the country has long been divided along racial and socioeconomic lines. But the polarization has deepened in recent years. This is partly due to US support for an opposition strategy aimed at removing the government of Nicolás Maduro through extra-electoral means. While the opposition has been divided on this strategy, US support has backed hardline opposition sectors in their goal of ousting the Maduro government through often violent protests, a military coup d’etat, or other avenues that sidestep the ballot box.

Under the Trump administration, aggressive rhetoric against the Venezuelan government has ratcheted up to a more extreme and threatening level, with Trump administration officials talking of “military action” and condemning Venezuela, along with Cuba and Nicaragua, as part of a “troika of tyranny.” Problems resulting from Venezuelan government policy have been worsened by US economic sanctions, illegal under the Organization of American States and the United Nations ― as well as US law and other international treaties and conventions. These sanctions have cut off the means by which the Venezuelan government could escape from its economic recession, while causing a dramatic falloff in oil production and worsening the economic crisis, and causing many people to die because they can’t get access to life-saving medicines. Meanwhile, the US and other governments continue to blame the Venezuelan government ― solely ― for the economic damage, even that caused by the US sanctions.

Now the US and its allies, including OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, have pushed Venezuela to the precipice. By recognizing National Assembly President Juan Guaido as the new president of Venezuela ― something illegal under the OAS Charter ― the Trump administration has sharply accelerated Venezuela’s political crisis in the hopes of dividing the Venezuelan military and further polarizing the populace, forcing them to choose sides. The obvious, and sometimes stated goal, is to force Maduro out via a coup d’etat.

The reality is that despite hyperinflation, shortages, and a deep depression, Venezuela remains a politically polarized country. The US and its allies must cease encouraging violence by pushing for violent, extralegal regime change. If the Trump administration and its allies continue to pursue their reckless course in Venezuela, the most likely result will be bloodshed, chaos, and instability. The US should have learned something from its regime change ventures in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and its long, violent history of sponsoring regime change in Latin America.

Neither side in Venezuela can simply vanquish the other. The military, for example, has at least 235,000 frontline members, and there are at least 1.6 million in militias. Many of these people will fight, not only on the basis of a belief in national sovereignty that is widely held in Latin America ― in the face of what increasingly appears to be a US-led intervention ― but also to protect themselves from likely repression if the opposition topples the government by force.

In such situations, the only solution is a negotiated settlement, as has happened in the past in Latin American countries when politically polarized societies were unable to resolve their differences through elections. There have been efforts, such as those led by the Vatican in the fall of 2016, that had potential, but they received no support from Washington and its allies who favored regime change. This strategy must change if there is to be any viable solution to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.

For the sake of the Venezuelan people, the region, and for the principle of national sovereignty, these international actors should instead support negotiations between the Venezuelan government and its opponents that will allow the country to finally emerge from its political and economic crisis.

Signed:

Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus, MIT and Laureate Professor, University of Arizona

Laura Carlsen, Director, Americas Program, Center for International Policy

Greg Grandin, Professor of History, New York University

Miguel Tinker Salas, Professor of Latin American History and Chicano/a Latino/a Studies at Pomona College

Sujatha Fernandes, Professor of Political Economy and Sociology, University of Sydney

Steve Ellner, Associate Managing Editor of Latin American Perspectives

Alfred de Zayas, former UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order and only UN rapporteur to have visited Venezuela in 21 years

Boots Riley, Writer/Director of Sorry to Bother You, Musician

John Pilger, Journalist & Film-Maker

Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Jared Abbott, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, Harvard University

John Mill Ackerman, Professor of Law, National Autonomous Univeristy of Mexico

Paul Alexander, English Professor, San Diego City College

Dr. Tim Anderson, Director, Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies

Joel Andreas, Johns Hopkins University

Rhonda Andrews, Teacher, Western Australia

Guy Aronoff, Professor of History, Humboldt State University

Elisabeth Armstrong, Professor of the Study of Women and Gender, Smith College

Silvia M. Arrom, Jane’s Professor of Latin American Studies Emerita, Brandeis University

Robert Austin, Honorary Associate, Department of History, University of Sydney, Australia

Alexander Aviña, PhD, Associate Professor of History, Arizona State University

David Barkin, Distinguished Professor, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Xochimilco

Marc Becker, Professor of History, Truman State University

Medea Benjamin, Cofounder, CODEPINK

Phyllis Bennis, Program Director, New Internationalism, Institute for Policy Studies

Charles Bergquist, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Washington

Alan Berolzheimer, Project Historian/ Assistant Director, Flow of History

Russell Bickford, Associate Professor of History, Cornell University

Dr. Robert E. Birt, Professor of Philosophy, Bowie State University

Sarvananda Bluestone

Mark E. Blum, Professor of History, University of Louisville

Peter Bohmer, Faculty in Economics and Political Economy, The Evergreen State College

Bill Bollinger, Latin American Studies, California State University, Los Angeles

Nathan Silvers Boyce, Associate Professor of Economics, Willamette University

Tina Braxton, PhD Candidate in History, Georgetown University

Rosalind Bresnahan, Professor (Retired), California State University San Bernardino

Renate Bridenthal, Emerita Professor of History, Brooklyn College CUNY

Lina Britto, Assistant Professor of History, Northwestern University

Frank Brodhead, Concerned Families of Westchester (NY)

Guillermo Calvo Mahe, Writer and political commentator; former Chair, Political Science, Government and International Relations at the Universidad Autónoma de Manizales

Agustín Cano, Universidad de la República de Uruguay

Aviva Chomsky, Professor of History, Salem State University

James Cohen, University of Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle

Jeff Cooper, History Professor, Retired

Jorge Coronado, Professor, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, Northwestern University

Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Associate Professor, George Mason University

Benjamin Dangl, PhD, Editor of Toward Freedom

Enrique Davalos, Chicana/o Studies Professor and Department Chair, San Diego City College

Nicolas J S Davies, Journalist and Researcher

Natalie Zemon Davis, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University

Dr. Mara Dodge, Chair, History Dept., Westfield State University

Dr. Francisco Dominguez, Faculty of Professional and Social Sciences, Middlesex University, UK

Elizabeth Dore, Professor of Latin American Studies, University of Southampton, UKElizabeth Dore, Professor of Latin American Studies, University of Southampton, UK

Alex Dupuy, John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology Emeritus, Wesleyan University

Rachel Elfenbein, Ph.D., author, Engendering Revolution: Women, Unpaid Labor, and Maternalism in Bolivarian Venezuela

Laura Enriquez, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley

Jodie Evans, Cofounder, CODEPINK

Thomas C. Field Jr., Associate Professor of Global Security and Intelligence Studies, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Cindy Forster, Professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Scripps College

Vanessa Freije, Assistant Professor of International Studies, University of Washington

John D. French, Professor of History, Duke University

Gavin Fridell, Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor in International Development Studies, St. Mary’s University

Larry Goldsmith, Profesor de Letras Inglesas (Asignatura), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Evelyn Gonzalez, Counselor, Montgomery College

Jeffrey L. Gould, Rudy Professor of History, Indiana University

Irene Gendzier, Professor Emeritus, Boston University

Reena Goldthree, Assistant Professor of African American Studies

Jerry Gray, Professor of Economics, Willamette University

Hannah Gurman, Clinical Associate Professor, NYU Gallatin

Bret Gustafson, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis

Robin Hahnel, Professor Emeritus of Economics, American University

Peter Hallward, Professor of Philosophy, Kingston University

John L. Hammond, Professor of Sociology, CUNY

Robert Hannigan, Scholar in Residence, Suffolk University

Mark Healey, Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut

Christopher Helali, Graduate Student, Dartmouth College

Daniel Hellinger, Professor Emeritus of International Relations, Webster University

Gabriel Hetland, Assistant Professor of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies, University of Albany

Steven J. Hirsch, Professor of Practice, International and Area Studies, Washington University

Forrest Hylton, Associate Professor of History, Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Medellín

Clara Irazábal-Zurita, M.Sc., M.Arch., Ph.D, Director of the Latinx and Latin American Studies Program, University of Missouri - Kansas City

Daniel James, Bernardo Mendel Chair of Latin American History

Dale L. Johnson, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Rutgers

Paul Katz, PhD Candidate in History, Columbia University

Chuck Kaufman, National Co-Coordinator, Alliance for Global Justice

Gregory Kealey, Emeritus Professor of History, University of New Brunswick, Canada

Misha Kokotovic, Associate Professor, Department of Literature, University of California, San Diego

Daniel Kovalik, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh



Sara Kozameh, PhD Candidate in Latin American History, New York University

Peter Kuznick, Professor of History, Director, Nuclear Studies Institute, American University



Teishan Latner, Assistant Professor of History, Thomas Jefferson University

Roger Leisner, Radio Free Maine

Fernando Leiva, Associate Professor, University of California Santa Cruz

Winnie Lem, Professor, International Development Studies, Trent University

Dr. Gilberto López y Rivas, Professor-Researcher, National University of Anthropology and History, Morelos, Mexico

Richard MacMaster, Professor (Retired), University of Floriday; Gainesville Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice

Mary Ann Mahony, Professor of History, Central Connecticut State University

Jorge Mancini, Vice President, Foundation for Latin American Integration (FILA)

Elizabeth Manley, Associate Professor, Department of History, Xavier University of Louisiana

John Marciano, Professor Emeritus, SUNY

Luís Martin-Cabrera, Associate Professor of Literature and Latin American Studies, University of California San Diego

Mark Mason PhD, US Cultural/ Political Analyst

Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Harvard University

Teresa A. Meade, Florence B. Sherwood Professor of History and Culture, Union College

Frederick Mills, Professor of Philosophy, Bowie State University

Stephen Morris, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Middle Tennessee State University

Daniel Mosquera, Professor of Spanish, Hispanic and Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Union College

Pam Murray, Professor of History, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Stan Nadel, Historian, Salzburg Austria

Celia E. Naylor, Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History, Barnard College, Columbia University

Liisa L. North, Professor Emeritus, York University

Paul Ortiz, Associate Professor of History, University of Florida

Greg Osterud PhD, American Civilization, Brown University

Tanalis Padilla, Associate Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Joan E. Paluzzi, Medical Anthropologist (Retired)

Christian Parenti, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, John Jay College CUNY

Nicole Phillips, Law Professor at the Université de la Foundation Dr. Aristide Faculté des Sciences Juridiques et Politiques and Adjunct Law Professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law

Patricia Pinho, University of California, Santa Cruz

Beatrice Pita, Lecturer, Department of Literature, University of California San Diego

Daniel Pope, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Oregon (for identification purposes only)

Margaret Power, Professor of History, Illinois Institute of Technology

Vijay Prashad, Editor, The TriContinental

Sean Purdy, Professor of History, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Jon Queally, Common Dreams

Eleanora Quijada Cervoni FHEA, Staff Education Facilitator & EFS Mentor, Centre for Higher Education, Learning & Teaching at The Australian National University

Viviana Ramirez, Senior Teacher of Spanish (Retired), Queensland, Australia

Walter Riley, Attorney and Activist

William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Mary Roldan, Dorothy Epstein Professor of Latin American History, Hunter College/ CUNY Graduate Center

Karin Rosemblatt, Professor of History, University of Maryland

Peter Rosset, PhD, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico

Emir Sader, Professor of Sociology, University of the State of Rio de Janeiro

Robert Samet PhD, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Union College

Rosaura Sanchez, Professor of Latin American Literature and Chicano Literature, University of California, San Diego

T.M. Scruggs Jr., Professor Emeritus, University of Iowa

Guillermina Seri, Associate Professor of Political Science, Union College

Nina Serrano, Writer, Poet, Media Producer

Naoko Shibusawa, Associate Professor of History and American Studies/Ethnic Studies, Brown University

Fran Shor, Professor Emeritus of History, Wayne State University

Lewis H. Siegelbaum, Jack and Margaret Sweet Professor Emeritus of History, Michigan State University

Nina Silber, Professor of History & American Studies, Boston University

Victor Silverman, Professor of History, Pomona College

Brad Simpson, Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut

William Smaldone, Professor of History, Willamette University

Jeb Sprague, Lecturer, University of Virginia

Kent Spriggs, International Human Rights Lawyer

Richard Stahler-Sholk, Professor of Political Science, Eastern Michigan University

Maryclen Stelling, Sociologist, Media Researcher and Political Analyst

Christy Thornton, Assistant Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University

Sinclair S. Thomson, Associate Professor of History, New York University

Heidi Tinsman, Professor of History, University of California Irvine

Steven Topik, Professor of History, University of California, Irvine

Stephen Volk, Professor of History Emeritus, Oberlin College

Ellie Walsh, Associate Professor of History, Governors State University

Kirsten Weld, John. L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, Department of History, Harvard University

Tamar Diana Wilson, PhD, Independent Researcher

John Womack Jr., Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, Emeritus, Harvard University

Julio Yao, ex- Agent of the Republic of Panama before the International Court of Justice at the Hague; ex- Advisor on Canal Treaty; Law Professor; International Analyst

Kevin Young, Assistant Professor of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Patricio Zamorano, Academic of Latin American Studies; Executive Director, InfoAmericas