WASHINGTON, January 8, 2026— The United States government’s military attack and ongoing oil grab in Venezuela represents an alarming violation of international law and defies the US Constitution. Unilateral military action, with a stated aim of seizing Venezuela’s oil resources, exercising control of the country, and asserting US dominance over the hemisphere, threatens global stability and peace, and neither advances democracy nor respects the human rights and self-determination of the Venezuelan people.
The Maduro government’s record of repression and human rights violations cannot be ignored, but it does not justify unlawful, unilateral intervention by another state. Might does not make right, and circumventing multilateral processes and well-established international and domestic law endangers the rule of law itself. Military strikes to topple a government, with no real plan in place for what comes next, do not guarantee justice or relief for the Venezuelan people.
The US’s actions also undermine efforts to protect our shared future. At a time of accelerating climate catastrophe, rising authoritarianism, and global instability, the US’s deployment of military power to gain access to fossil fuels recalls a long history of war for oil and sends a dangerous signal that risks emboldening other would-be aggressors. The world needs a rapid, equitable phase-out of fossil fuels, not a new scramble to expand oil production.
Governments must condemn a human rights crisis being used as an excuse to grab oil in the middle of a climate emergency — rather than backing debt relief, democracy, and a just, fossil-free future. Failure to do so all but guarantees further abuses of power, escalating violence, and deeper planetary crisis.
It is a critical moment for all governments to defend the authority of international law and multilateral institutions designed to prevent war and safeguard peace, democracy, human rights, and self-determination.
CIEL calls on all governments to condemn illegal acts of aggression, uphold the rule of law, and defend—not distort—the international legal order on which human rights and climate justice depend. The Venezuelan people deserve democracy, safety, and a future shaped by their own choices.
Media Contact
Maria Frausto, Communications Director: [email protected]