Sovereignty undermined: Why foreign interference in Venezuela must be condemned

By Peter Justice GARIBA

The principle of national sovereignty is not a suggestion—it is the backbone of international law and the moral foundation of a world that claims to respect freedom and self-determination. When a powerful nation interferes in the political destiny of another, choosing leaders, dictating economic control, and sidelining the will of the people, it betrays those principles. The United States’ involvement in Venezuela represents precisely this betrayal, and it deserves clear, global condemnation.

Venezuela is a sovereign nation. Its people, not foreign governments, hold the right to choose their leaders through democratic processes. Yet time and again, the United States has involved itself in Venezuela’s internal politics—recognizing preferred leaders, applying pressure through sanctions, and openly signaling who should govern, regardless of whether Venezuelan citizens were allowed to decide freely at the ballot box. This is not democracy. It is power politics disguised as concern.

Democracy cannot be exported by force or selective recognition. When a foreign power “picks” a president or delegitimizes elections it does not favor, it strips citizens of their most basic political right: self-determination. Venezuelans are reduced from active participants in their future to spectators of decisions made in distant capitals. No nation that claims to champion freedom should deny it to others.

Equally troubling is the persistent question of Venezuela’s oil. Venezuela possesses one of the largest oil reserves in the world, and this reality has long attracted foreign interest—particularly from the United States. Calls for external “management” of Venezuelan oil resources are not acts of generosity; they are admissions of economic ambition. Oil is power, and controlling it brings profit and geopolitical influence.

Why should the United States manage Venezuela’s oil? Why is it assumed that Venezuelans are incapable of governing their own resources? This narrative is not only insulting, it is rooted in a long history of exploitation, where developing nations are portrayed as unable to manage wealth unless guided—or controlled—by stronger powers. The truth is simple: Venezuela’s oil belongs to Venezuela’s people. Any claim otherwise is economic colonialism in modern form.

Interference in Venezuela’s sovereignty is not driven by humanitarian concern alone. It is entangled with strategic interests—energy security, regional influence, and political leverage. When sanctions cripple an economy, when leaders are imposed or rejected from abroad, and when resources are targeted under the banner of “stability,” the true beneficiaries are rarely ordinary citizens. Instead, they are those who gain power, access, and profit.

The international community cannot remain silent. World leaders who value justice, equality, and international law must condemn all forms of foreign interference in Venezuela. Silence is complicity. Sovereignty must be restored, sanctions that harm civilians must be reevaluated, and Venezuelans must be given the space to decide their own future—freely, peacefully, and without coercion.

Restoring the dignity of Venezuela means recognizing its people as capable, autonomous, and deserving of respect. It means ending the practice of treating nations as chessboards and resources as prizes. True democracy begins when the world accepts a simple truth: no country, no matter how powerful, has the right to rule another from afar.

Venezuela does not need a foreign manager. It needs respect. And the world must deman.

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