Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday strongly condemned the recent United States military actions in Venezuela, accusing Washington of undermining national sovereignty and pursuing “imperialist aggression” to protect its economic and political interests.

Vijayan alleged that the US has a long history of military interventions across the world that have resulted in large-scale human suffering. Referring to the detention of Venezuela’s leadership, he said the actions reflected a blatant disregard for the country’s territorial integrity.

“Extraordinary incidents are taking place in the world. Disregarding the sovereignty of Venezuela, American imperialism has intruded into that country and has even taken the head of that nation into custody,” the Chief Minister said.

He cited past US military interventions in Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya and several Latin American countries, asserting that such actions have led to widespread bloodshed. “The history of military intrusions carried out by American imperialism across the world is one of human bloodshed. To protect their economic and political interests, America has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocent people,” Vijayan said.

His remarks come days after the US launched a large-scale strike in Caracas and captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The two were flown out of the country in a joint operation involving intelligence agencies and US law enforcement. They have been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges related to alleged drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies. Following the operation, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez assumed charge as Venezuela’s acting president.

Vijayan warned that the developments in Venezuela should concern democratic nations worldwide. “What happened in Venezuela today can happen in any other country in the world tomorrow,” he said.

Drawing a parallel with India’s diplomatic outreach following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, Vijayan said the Venezuelan people deserved similar international solidarity. “When India sought global support after the Pahalgam attack, the world was expected to stand with us. The same support should be extended to the people of Venezuela today,” he added.

The Chief Minister also criticised the Union government, alleging that it had downplayed the issue. He claimed that the Ministry of External Affairs’ statement did not even name the United States and accused the Centre of showing “subservience” to Washington.

Vijayan further took aim at the Congress, accusing it of aligning too closely with American interests and failing to respond firmly to repeated tariff threats by US President Donald Trump.

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He also criticised sections of the media, alleging that coverage of the Venezuelan crisis sought to “sugar-coat the American invasion” instead of recognising it as a violation of sovereignty and a humanitarian concern.