THE WORLD Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) has issued a call for a worldwide International Action Day of Solidarity with Venezuela on January 22, 2026 being its response to the brazen acts of war by the United States government against the sovereign Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
According to a statement issued from its headquarters in Athens, Greece, WFTU accused U.S. of operating under the cynical pretext of a “war on drugs,” to launch a large-scale military strike on the capital, Caracas.
Describing the military action as a shocking violation of all international norms, WFTU said the capture of democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro and wife, Cilia Flores constitutes nothing less than illegal kidnapping of a sovereign nation’s leadership.
The Federation condemns it as an unprecedented act of piracy, which flagrantly violates the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.
The WFTU frames the assault as a desperate move by a declining imperialism, aimed squarely at seizing control of Venezuela’s vast mineral and energy resources.
This aggression, the statement warns, revives the sinister Monroe Doctrine and poses a direct threat not only to Venezuela but to the entire Latin American region and beyond, with other sovereign territories like Greenland now in the crosshairs of imperialist ambition.
“The kidnapping of President Maduro is an act of war against the Venezuelan people and a declaration of open colonialism,” declared the WFTU Secretariat.
“It confirms the barbaric and lawless phase into which U.S.-led imperialism has entered. This is not about drugs or democracy; this is a naked resource grab in the context of intensifying inter-imperialist rivalry, and the working class of the world must answer it,” the statement further declared.
The WFTU mandates its affiliated unions and solidarity organisations across the globe to organise militant demonstrations and rallies at U.S. embassies and other symbolic sites on January 22 to be held under the unifying slogans: “U.S. Imperialism Hands Off Venezuela!” and “Release President Maduro and Cilia Flores Now!”
WFTU also stated: “We must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of Venezuela until this aggression is defeated,” the statement reads, adding: “Let us send a loud and clear message from every continent: The militant trade union movement unequivocally supports the non-negotiable right of all peoples to determine their own destiny, free from imperialist intervention and coercion.”
The WFTU urges all workers, peasants, students, and peace-loving people worldwide to join the January 22 mobilisations and to intensify pressure on their own governments to condemn the U.S. invasion and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Venezuela’s captured leaders.
WFTU is an international class-oriented trade union organization founded in 1945, representing millions of workers across the globe in the struggle for peace, workers’ rights, and against imperialism and exploitation.
