PISTON condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent military aggression and illegal seizure of power by the United States government, led by Donald Trump, in Venezuela. We stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan working class in resisting this naked display of imperialist banditry led by the US imperialist regime.
The US government’s mask has completely fallen off. Donald Trump’s declaration that the US will “run” Venezuela and that US oil companies will “start making money” confirms that this is not about “democracy” or “drugs.” This is a desperate, violent scramble to secure the world’s largest oil reserves for the profit of American monopoly capitalists. It is a blatant act of plunder disguised as a “police action.”
The US war machine’s aggression in Venezuela can directly assault the livelihoods of Filipino transport workers and the ordinary masses. We are already suffering from the volatile dictates of the global oil market. This US-instigated instability will only serve as another pretext for the Big Three oil cartel (Shell, Petron, Chevron) to jack up pump prices in the Philippines, further bleeding dry our jeepney drivers and ordinary consumers who are barely surviving on meager incomes.
We also condemn the deafening complicity of the Marcos Jr. administration. By maintaining the Oil Deregulation Law and allowing the US military to use our territory as a launching pad for its wars of aggression in the Asia Pacific region — similar to what’s currently happening in Venezuela — the Marcos regime proves it is nothing but a faithful puppet to its imperialist masters. Instead of protecting Filipino transport workers and consumers from the shockwaves of this conflict, the state is busy paving the way for foreign plunder.
We call on all transport workers, commuters, and Filipinos to mobilize. We must expose and oppose the US imperialist war for oil and natural resources. We must demand the junking of the Oil Deregulation Law to free our people from the clutches of global oil cartels. Demand and struggle to end US imperialism!
STOP US INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA!
JUNK THE OIL DEREGULATION LAW!
DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!