The US is currently surrounding Venezuela in the Southern Caribbean with 8 warships hosting approximately 4500 military personnel. It has officially stated it has deployed so many warships in the region –including one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine– by falsely depicting it as an anti-drug trafficking operation, but the message of intimidation is clear. We condemn these provocations of war against the sovereign nation of Venezuela and its population of 28.4 million. The country and its people have already been enduring the cruel impact of sanctions unliterally imposed by the US and its allies accomplices, but in recent months the US has been escalating its aggression against Venezuela. Earlier in the year, the Trump administration was caught trafficking scores of Venezuelan migrants in the US to El Salvador’s infamous centre of torture, CECOT – all without trial or due process. In recent weeks the US has instructed the Pentagon that it can use “military force” to go after Venezuela’s “drug cartels” – falsely claiming that the Venezuelan state is responsible – while putting a $50 million dollar bounty on Maduro’s head calling for his arrest. There is no evidence for Venezuela’s involvement in the drug trade and the US has not provided any. US politicians are boasting that this is “the largest military presence we have ever had off the coast of Venezuela”. Both the Colombian president Gustavo Petro and Venezuela’s President have stepped up efforts along their combined common border with the aim of combatting the activities of drug-mafias. The UN Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) has shown irrefutable evidence that 87% of the cocaine produced in Colombia gets to the US through the Pacific Coast and barely 5% seeks (not always successfully) to use Venezuela as an illegal corridor to get illegal cocaine shipments to the US through the Caribbean. Venezuela does not have a coastline in the Pacific Ocean. Yet again, the United States is using its age-old tactic of inventing a problem to provide cover for war and aggression on a sovereign nation. In response to the deployment of warships and US military near its waters, Maduro pledged the defensive deployment of a 4.5-million-strong Bolivarian Militia. Over the past week, thousands of everyday citizens – from young students to retirees, farmers to white collar workers – have volunteered to join the Bolivarian Militia and pledged to defend their country from military attacks from imperialist and colonial forces. he Bolivarian Militia was founded by former president Hugo Chavez as an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist republican civilian reserve army of volunteers. It forms part of Venezuela’s peace plan to defend the principles of sovereignty and shared economic development. Amidst the unspoken threat of invasion by the US, Venezuela has received fraternal and diplomatic support from its neighbours Colombia, Cuba, Brazil and Mexico as well as countries like Russia, China and many others. China has reiterated its opposition to any move that violates the UN Charter and a country’s sovereignty and security. Spokesperson Mao Ning condemned the United States provocations and «the interference of external forces in Venezuela’s internal affairs under any pretext». We believe it is the right of sovereign nations to independence, non-interference from foreign entities, and self-determination of their future. There have been hundreds of global protests in support of Venezuela and against US intervention. We, along with the Global Majority, support the Venezuelan people in defending their country from war and war provocations. We, the Black Liberation Alliance, will always stand against the imperialists. We urge Britain to reject the US’ war provocations on Venezuela and demand the recall of the US war fleet from the South Caribbean. Solidarity,