The Trump administration just indicted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and thirteen others on “narco-terrorism” charges and is offering $55 million in bounties for them. $55 million could buy a lot of ventilators, but Trump would rather spend more money on regime change. Sign our open letter denouncing these hypocritical indictments, which are yet another escalation on the hybrid war against Venezuela. ADD MY NAME

Dear John,

Trump continues to turn up the heat on Venezuela in the middle of a global pandemic. Attorney General William Barr just indicted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and 13 other high-level current or former government officials on charges of “narco-terrorism,” offering a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, as well as $10 million rewards for four others. $55 million could buy a lot of ventilators. Instead, it’s being applied towards regime change.

This move is part of the latest escalation in Trump’s plans for Venezuela, and is part of the State Department’s strategy of “maximum pressure" that also includes a naval deployment that could be a prelude to a full naval blockade, which is an act of war. To learn more about the Trump administration’s regime change efforts and the regional drug trade, watch CODEPINK's Teri Mattson's interview Fulton Armstrong, a professor at American University and former CIA analyst.

You can also join us in signing this open letter denouncing the Trump administration’s hypocrisy in indicting the Venezuelan government!

The charges allege that the Venezuelan government is trying to flood the streets of the U.S. with cocaine. It would be troubling if true, but the fact is that 90% of the cocaine in the United States (the world’s biggest consumer) comes from Colombia (the world’s biggest producer), yet Colombia remains a close U.S. ally that continues receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid every year. This shows that the indictments are completely hypocritical and politically biased. 

This is not about stopping the drug trade; it’s about regime change. The Trump administration is doing all it can to sabotage dialogue between the Maduro government and the moderate opposition. This latest move came a day after Maduro offered to engage in a national dialogue to build consensus on a response to COVID-19. 

Sign this open letter to demand that Trump drop these groundless charges, lift the killer sanctions on Venezuela and normalize relations between the two countries!

CODEPINK has taken a leading role in building a movement against the U.S. government efforts at regime change in Venezuela. One of the keys to movement building is learning, so please be sure to join us every week for the WTF is Going On In Latin America webinar with Teri Mattson. 

In solidarity,

Leonardo, Medea, Michelle, and Teri
CODEPINK Latin America Campaign