Anti-Imperialist Front launches protests in response to Venezuela crisis
Lilita Gcwabe
The newly launched Anti-Imperialist Front has announced plans to march to the US embassy in Pretoria against the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
More than 170 delegates from trade unions, civic organisations, and international solidarity movements met online on Tuesday, January 7, 2026, in an emergency session that ended with the launch of a new Anti-Imperialist Front and the announcement of immediate protest action across South Africa and internationally.
The meeting was called in response to what participants described the incident as the kidnapping and detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Foreign Minister Celia Flores by the United States government under President Donald Trump.
Delegates unanimously condemned the incident and warned that it showed a dangerous escalation of US imperial aggression and a threat to global peace, as the resolution stated, "we condemn in the strongest possible terms the illegal kidnapping and detention of President Maduro and Foreign Minister Flores. This is not an isolated event, but the sharpest expression of a new, more dangerous era of naked imperialism, pushing the world to the brink of wider conflict."
The gathering included organisations from across South Africa and beyond, among them the Workers and Socialist Party (WASP), Socialist Youth Movement (SYM), General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA), the South African Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Coalition, Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), housing and unemployed people’s movements, Palestine solidarity organisations, and international solidarity formations supporting Venezuela, Cuba, and Palestine.
Speakers argued that events in Venezuela are part of a broader pattern of US intervention, sanctions, and destabilisation targeting countries in the Global South. Parallels were drawn with Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, US pressure on Latin American governments, and economic coercion against South Africa linked to its stance on Palestine and its participation in BRICS.
A delegate said: "The struggle against the blockade of Gaza is the same struggle against the blockade and aggression on Venezuela. The fight against job losses and austerity in South Africa, itself a target of imperialist destabilisation, is intrinsically linked to the fight against the corporations that profit from war and occupation."
Following deliberations, delegates resolved to establish a broad, action-oriented Anti-Imperialist Front aimed at coordinating resistance to war, sanctions, and corporate exploitation. A programme of immediate action was adopted, with clear timelines and objectives.
On Monday, January 12, 2026:
Organisations will hold coordinated pickets and protests at US embassies, consulates, and symbolic sites of imperial power across South Africa. Planned locations include the US Embassy in Pretoria, the US Consulate in Johannesburg (Sandton), the US Consulate in Cape Town, and provincial picket points in Durban, Gqeberha, and Polokwane. These actions aim to publicly condemn US intervention in Venezuela and warn against further military and economic aggression.
On Friday, February 6, 2026:
Activities on this day are expected to include mass demonstrations, occupations, blockades, and sustained protests in South Africa and internationally. In South Africa, central demonstrations are being planned in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria, with solidarity actions coordinated with movements in Latin America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.
In the weeks leading up to and following these actions, the Anti-Imperialist Front will integrate anti-war mobilisation with domestic struggles against factory closures, job losses, and deindustrialisation.
Organisers said campaigns will be taken directly to factories, mines, townships, and informal settlements, particularly in Gauteng, the North West, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape, linking austerity and unemployment to global imperialist policies.
Another key focus will be a targeted campaign against multinational corporations accused of profiting from war, sanctions, and occupation.
Planned actions include boycotts, exposure campaigns, and blockades against companies such as Chevron and other corporations listed by the BDS movement, with protests expected outside corporate offices, fuel depots, and logistical hubs.
To sustain the campaign, delegates agreed to establish a permanent national coordinating structure, supported by provincial and local anti-imperialist action committees.
The Front will produce regular bulletins, use community radio and alternative media, and organise political education programmes in workplaces and communities.
The meeting called on trade union federations, community organisations, student movements, and civil society formations to actively participate.
"Join the picket this Monday. Mobilise for February 6th. Link the struggle for jobs to the struggle against imperialist war. The politicians will not save us; the UN will not save us; the courts will not save us. Only our own collective power, organised independently in our workplaces and communities on an international scale, can defeat imperialism and halt the slide into a third world war."