Does international law not matter? Does the United Nations Charter not matter? Does the US Constitution not matter?
Trump orders the kidnapping of the legitimate president of an independent state. Even under US law, this constitutes a serious crime.
With this display of power and violence, the US and its president are showing that they do not care about the rules for peaceful coexistence among humanity, as long as it concerns oil and US domination of the world. The White House's megalomania regarding Venezuelan oil and other resources is no longer hidden.
The US president also claims Greenland, Canada, Panama, Gaza, Cuba, and many other territories. What do we have to fear?
In Vietnam, Panama, Iraq, Libya, Yugoslavia, and Gaza, the imperial powers still pretended to act as “world police” to defend “democratic values” against evil in the world, but all they achieved was to bring chaos and mass graves to the invaded countries. This time, that disguise is gone.
With weeks of “extrajudicial killings” (a polite way of referring to arbitrary murder), the US military suspended the human right to a trial before a regular court. The United States has been preparing its war against Venezuela for a long time. Now, the US military has carried out brutal action against an independent nation that is not subject to US tech oligarchs. The “rules-based world order” seems to have finally been abolished and the “law of the strongest” prevails. This calls into question the global world order.
The European Union refuses to condemn the US's warlike actions. In doing so, Europe is losing its credibility as a “peace-loving moral authority” in the eyes of the world. As a result, Europe, the EU, and Austria are losing their credibility as serious (economic) partners in the world.
The Austria-Cuba Friendship Association strongly condemns this development and joins all people around the world who want to live in a peaceful world with a secure future.
We demand that the US government:
- The immediate cessation of threats and attacks against Venezuela and other countries in the Latin American and Caribbean peace region.
- The immediate return of Venezuela's acting president, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and first lady, Cilia Flores, who were kidnapped by a special US Army commando unit and taken to the United States.
- Compliance with international law and the United Nations Charter.
- We stand with the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Hands off Venezuela and Cuba! Solidarity with Venezuela and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean! Long live peace and self-determination for all peoples! We shall overcome!
Vienna, January 4, 2026