01/03/2026
The U.S. attack on Venezuela and the seizure of its president is not an aberration. It is a familiar chapter in a long history of militarism, resource theft, and reckless foreign policy carried out in the name of democracy while hollowing it out at home.
ACORN has seen this pattern before. From church basements where our members learned to “hate the war, love the warrior,” to union halls where families demanded an end to the Iraq War, our communities have always understood that militarism takes food off the table, steals futures, and concentrates power in the hands of the few. We saw it when our veterans organized with us decades ago against the Vietnam War. We see it now in Gaza, where our allies have stood at the gates of munitions plants in England and press back against colonialism in the West-Bank, while too many in the U.S. stay quiet. We saw it when we stood with communities in Honduras after a U.S.-backed coup and listened to mothers explain what foreign policy looks like on dirt streets and empty cupboards. We see it now, again, in Venezuela.
No one needs to pretend this aggression is about democracy or human rights. Venezuela’s crisis has many authors, but U.S. missiles, seizures, and sanctions have never fed a family, built housing, or strengthened self-determination. What they have done, consistently, is justify the pillaging of resources, escalate violence, and punish civilians while corporations and political elites circle oil, minerals, and strategic control.
If we believe in democracy, we cannot outsource it to bombs or gunboats. Democracy means no blank checks for coups or “cowboy” adventurism. It means rejecting wars waged without transparency, accountability, or consent. It means refusing to let our tax dollars fund destruction abroad while housing, healthcare, and livelihoods collapse at home. And it means standing with people when they assert their right to sovereignty.
We once made lightning strike through mass, sustained opposition to war. The question is not whether we know what to do. It is whether we are willing to do it again.
