U.S. Solidarity Delegation Blocked From Traveling to Venezuela by Illegal Trump “No-Fly Zone” to Discuss Legal and Political Response
Date: Wednesday, December 10
Press Conference: 2:00 PM
Location: Solidarity Center, 121 West 27th, Suite 404, 4th Floor, NY, NY, 10001
Contact: Suzanne Adely, Tel. (773) 510-7446; Corinna Mullin, Tel. (929) 342-8139
New York, NY — A coalition of peace, justice, and antiwar organizers inside the United States announced that they are joining forces with lawyers to explore potential legal challenges after being illegally prevented from traveling to Venezuela to attend the People’s Assembly for Peace and Sovereignty in Our Americas, held December 8–9 and organized by the Simón Bolívar Institute in Caracas. Their travel was obstructed due to Trump’s criminal blockade and illegal GPS interference in Venezuelan airspace. The organizers who were blocked will hold a press conference in New York City on Wednesday, December 9, at 2:00 PM.
Representatives had planned to travel on behalf of a broad coalition of organizations, including Workers World Party, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the International Action Center, National Lawyers Guild- International Committee, International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), Asociación Americana de Juristas (AAJ), the National Anti-War Action Network, the Black Alliance for Peace, Resist US-Led War, the U.S. Peace Council, Mutual Aid Scientific Socialism (MASS), Veterans for Peace, the Palaver Collective, Crown Heights Bites Back, the December 12th Movement, the Struggle for Socialism Party, Students for a Democratic Society, CODEPINK, International League of Peace and Struggle,
Venezuela Solidarity Network, and the Bolivarian Circle—reflecting the depth and diversity of grassroots, anti-imperialist, and working-class forces committed to international solidarity with Venezuela.
The Assembly brings together over 2,000 delegates from social movements, labor organizations, women’s and youth networks, Indigenous and Afro-descendant movements, and peace organizations across Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and North America. Its purpose is to build coordinated strategies for defending peace, sovereignty, and self-determination in the hemisphere—a gathering more urgent than ever amid escalating U.S. military aggression. Yet U.S.-based delegates—operating inside “the Belly of the Beast”—were barred from participating after the Trump administration attempted to impose a de facto no-fly zone over Venezuelan airspace.
On November 29, President Trump declared—without Congressional approval, UN authorization, or legal authority—that Venezuelan airspace should be considered “closed in its entirety.” Almost immediately, pilots began reporting GPS interference and “navigation signal disruptions” while approaching Caracas International Airport. Aviation analysts note that such disruptions mirror electronic warfare tactics the United States has deployed in advance of military operations in other regions. The resulting climate of uncertainty triggered cascading flight suspensions and widespread anxiety among travelers, with 75% of international flights to Venezuela cancelled as a result.
For thousands of Venezuelans abroad, these disruptions have produced a humanitarian crisis for families attempting to return home for Christmas, stranded in airports from Madrid to Panama City. Elderly passengers have gone days without assistance, and many travelers have been forced to reroute through Bogotá and cross into Cúcuta on foot just to reach Venezuelan territory. In response, the Venezuelan government has mobilized state-owned aircraft to assist stranded citizens and ensure reunification during the holiday season.
Against this backdrop, the US peace delegation sees these travel restrictions as a deliberate attempt to disrupt international solidarity. “This is an attempt to blockade solidarity and to isolate Venezuela from the global peace movement,” said coalition spokesperson Sara Flounders. “We were invited to Venezuela to build working-class unity, strengthen international anti-imperialist coordination, and deepen our collective struggle for peace. The U.S. government sought to stop us from even showing up,” said Roger Wareham from the December 12th Movement.
Delegates emphasize that this no-fly zone attempt is not an isolated incident, but part of a decades-long U.S. campaign of imperialist aggression—from multiple failed coup attempts, including the 2002 U.S.-backed coup against President Hugo Chávez; to the backing of astroturfed opposition figures such as Juan Guaidó and María Corina Machado; to the 2020 CIA-linked “Operation Gideon” plot to kidnap President Maduro; to ongoing economic warfare, illegal sanctions, and political destabilization. Despite these escalations, recent polling shows that 70 percent of U.S. residents oppose a war on Venezuela.
“We refuse to accept the lies used to justify regime change and resource theft,” said William Camacaro. “The real threat to peace in the hemisphere is US imperialism—not the Bolivarian Revolution,” added Corinna Mullin, of the U.S. Peace Council.
Though physically blocked, the coalition states that their commitment has only grown stronger. “Our bodies were blocked from traveling, but our solidarity was not,” said Suzanne Adely, of the National Lawyers Guild. Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer for Black Alliance for Peace, noted, “Washington’s greatest fear is not a plane landing in Caracas—it is that people’s movements across the Americas are learning from each other, deepening unity, and organizing together against imperialism.”
The coalition affirmed its determination to expand the antiwar movement inside the United States and strengthen global struggles against capitalism, militarism, and imperialism.
No War on Venezuela.
Venceremos.
