The following resolution was unanimously passed by the Tucson National Writers Union on January 13, 2026:

NO WAR ON VENEZUELA–BUILD PEACE, UNITY AND TRUST AMONG WORKERS WORLDWIDE

WHEREAS, the AFL-CIO and unions generally in the U.S. are rhetorically committed to the concept of solidarity with labor movements in other countries; and

WHEREAS, the AFL-CIO and local, national, and international unions and confederations have passed resolutions condemning the illegal bombing and invasion of Venezuela, the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and the threats of military actions or annexations against Cuba, Greenland, Colombia, and other countries; and

WHEREAS, the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center is 95% funded and directed by the US government and is a core institute of the congressionally created and funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which has a dubious history, having been deployed frequently to promote U.S. government foreign policy objectives, including assisting in overthrowing democratically elected governments and interfering in the internal affairs of the labor movements of other countries; and

WHEREAS, the conventions of the International Labor Organization guarantee workers of every country the right to choose to be represented by the labor organization or union of their own choosing, free from government, corporate or foreign interference or constraints; and

WHEREAS, the AFL-CIO leadership, through the Federation’s Solidarity Center, distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to coup plotters in Venezuela in 2002, and still oversees a black box of millions of dollars in funding for activities in Venezuela, with no clear reports about to whom these funds are going and for what purposes they are being applied; and

WHEREAS, the Solidarity Center also actively worked with the occupation government of Iraq following the invasion in 2003, and, that same year, supported the overthrow of Jean Bertrand Aristide in 2003, and in 2008, supported the Colombia-US Free Trade Agreement despite massive labor opposition in both Colombia and the US, as well as other forms of possible interference elsewhere we are not informed about due to the Solidarity Center practice of maintaining closed books on its activities; and

WHEREAS, AFL-CIO association with NED funding for its work in Venezuela and elsewhere may give the appearance, if not the effect, of making the AFL-CIO appear to be an agent of the U.S. government and its foreign policies, which may taint the good reputation of the Federation in the eyes of labor movements in other countries and draw into question the motivation and true independence of the Federation in its international affairs; and

WHEREAS, the Trump administration has “orphaned” the Solidarity Center and drastically cut its funding, inadvertently creating an opportunity for the AFL-CIO and US unions to pursue truly direct and independent worker-to-worker international solidarity; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Tucson Chapter of the National Writers Union denounces the illegal bombing and invasion of Venezuelan territory and the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and calls for the immediate return of Maduro and Flores, unharmed and without conditions to Venezuela; and be it further

RESOLVED, that we affirm our support for the principles of autonomy, independence and self-determination embodied in the International Conventions of the International Labor Organization; and be it further

RESOLVED, that we urge the national AFL-CIO and its Solidarity Center to exercise extreme caution in seeking or accepting funding from the U.S. government, its agencies and any other institutions which it funds such as the NED for its work in Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, and elsewhere, and to accept these funds only to further the goals of honest international labor solidarity, not to pursue the policies of Corporate America and the United States government; and be it further

RESOLVED that we call upon the National AFL-CIO to fully account for its operations in Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, and other countries where similar roles may have been played in our name, and to describe, country by country, exactly what activities it may still be engaged in abroad with funds paid by government agencies and renounce any such ties that could compromise our authentic credibility and the trust of workers here and abroad and that would make us paid agents of government or of the forces of corporate economic globalization’; and be it further

RESOLVED, that we urge the National AFL-CIO to fund its international programs and activities, whenever possible, from funds generated directly from its affiliates and their members; and be it finally

RESOLVED, that Tucson Chapter of the National Writers Union send this resolution to the National Writers Union for immediate attention, adoption, and to be further sent to the AFL-CIO in order to move forward together in stopping the military activities and threats of war against Venezuela and other countries in the Americas and across the world in order to build peace and create trust and unity among workers worldwide.