African trade unions have issued a blistering condemnation of the United States over what they described as a military assault on Venezuela’s sovereignty, warning that the action threatens global peace and places workers and ordinary citizens at grave risk.
In a rare joint intervention, the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa and the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) declared full solidarity with Venezuelan workers, describing the reported military detention of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Célia Flores, as a flagrant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.
The unions said the incident amounted to a foreign-engineered coup and an act of war, insisting that the use of military force against a sovereign state undermines democracy, self-determination, and peaceful relations among nations.
In a statement issued in Lomé, Togo, ITUC-Africa General Secretary, Akhator Joel Odigie, warned that history had shown that unilateral military actions only deepen instability. He cited the United States’ invasion of Panama in 1989 as a reminder of how such interventions leave lasting scars on societies and workers.
“These actions are driven by geopolitical and oil interests, not by democracy or human rights,” the statement said, stressing that workers and the poor inevitably bear the heaviest consequences through job losses, economic hardship, and social dislocation.
OATUU, the umbrella body for African trade unions, said the detention of Venezuela’s president was part of a wider strategy aimed at destabilising the country and plundering its vast natural resources, including oil, gas, and strategic minerals.
The organisation argued that attacking the leadership of a sovereign nation amounted to silencing the democratic will of millions of Venezuelans.
Drawing parallels with Africa’s own history of colonialism and external interference, the unions said the continent understood the devastating impact of imperialist interventions and resource exploitation on workers and national development.
The labour bodies called on the United Nations and the international community to address the situation “fully and without double standards,” urging an immediate halt to military aggression and foreign interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs.
They further appealed to workers, trade unions, and social movements across Africa and globally to mobilise in defence of Venezuela, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Maduro and his wife, respect for international law, and the right of peoples to determine their political and economic futures.
The unions warned that an attack on Venezuela’s sovereignty was an attack on workers and democratic freedoms everywhere, pledging continued solidarity with Venezuelan workers in their struggle for dignity, justice, and peace.
