South Africa’s largest trade union in the manufacturing sector, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), has issued a sweeping call for working-class unity at home and abroad, announcing a march to the United States Consulate in Sandton to protest what it describes as American “imperialist aggression” against Venezuela.

In a sharply worded press statement released on Monday, NUMSA said it would lead a march on Saturday, 24 January 2026, beginning at 9 am, to demand the release of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores, who the union claims were illegally captured by the United States earlier this month.

“This is not just about Venezuela,” NUMSA said. “What happened in Venezuela can happen anywhere, including South Africa. The working class must unite to defend the sovereignty of all nations.”

The union alleges that on 3 January, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump launched a military invasion of Venezuela, abducted its elected leadership, and moved them to New York to face what NUMSA calls “political prosecution” designed to legitimise an act of war. Washington, NUMSA argues, has no legal authority under international law to invade another sovereign country or prosecute its leaders.

NUMSA frames the alleged intervention as part of a broader imperial project aimed at seizing Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and reasserting American dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The union accuses Trump of reviving the Monroe Doctrine, a 19th-century policy that cast Latin America as the United States’ sphere of influence.

NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim argues that Venezuela’s crime, in Washington’s eyes, was pursuing an alternative economic model under the Bolivarian Revolution, using oil revenues to fund social programmes and asserting control over national resources.

“For more than two decades, Venezuela demonstrated that an alternative to neo-liberal capitalism is possible,” the union said, adding that this example could not be tolerated by the U.S.

The union situates events in Venezuela within a wider global and African context, warning that the implications for South Africa are “direct and immediate.” NUMSA points to punitive tariffs imposed on South African goods, threats to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and inflammatory claims by Trump alleging a “white genocide” in South Africa.

“This is not a joke,” NUMSA said. “A lie can be used to justify invasion, just as it has been used elsewhere.”

The union also linked U.S. foreign policy to domestic hardship across the Global South, accusing Washington of weaponising aid through agencies such as USAID, whose closure, NUMSA claims, has left millions without access to essential medicines.

At home, NUMSA said the planned march is also a direct response to what it calls mounting pressure on South Africa for taking Israel to the International Court of Justice over the war in Gaza. The union rejected criticism from the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, who has publicly opposed Pretoria’s ICJ case.

“If the ambassador continues to insult South Africa’s sovereignty, the government must act swiftly,” NUMSA said, calling for his expulsion should the pressure continue.

Beyond protest, the union issued an extensive list of demands, including the immediate release of Venezuela’s leadership, the withdrawal of U.S. forces, and an end to sanctions on Venezuelan oil. NUMSA also called on the African Union and BRICS bloc to coordinate a unified response to U.S. actions, and urged the United Nations Security Council to hold the United States accountable for violations of international law.

In one of its most controversial demands, NUMSA called on FIFA to cancel the upcoming World Cup in the United States, citing travel bans and immigration restrictions that could prevent teams from participating.

The union portrayed the current moment as a test of global institutions and warned that unchecked aggression could lead to a wider global conflict. “This is a dangerous world,” NUMSA said, describing the U.S. as a heavily indebted power increasingly reliant on military force as its economic dominance wanes.

Despite the gravity of its warnings, NUMSA insisted that the Bolivarian Revolution remains intact, with Venezuelan institutions continuing to function and popular movements standing firm. Drawing parallels with the failed 2002 coup against former president Hugo Chávez, the union said popular resistance had defeated imperial interventions before and could do so again.

NUMSA also condemned sections of the Venezuelan opposition that have welcomed foreign intervention, branding them “collaborators” willing to trade national sovereignty for political power.

The march in Sandton, the union said, is intended to transcend party politics and ideological divisions. “This is not about endorsing every policy of the Venezuelan government,” NUMSA said. “It is about defending the principle of national sovereignty.”

Calling on trade unions, political parties, faith-based organisations, students and community movements to join, NUMSA framed the mobilisation as part of a broader struggle against what it termed “global apartheid imperialism.”

“Today it is Venezuela,” the statement concluded. “Tomorrow it can be anywhere.”

The demonstration, NUMSA said, will be a declaration that South Africa’s working class stands in solidarity with the people of Venezuela and against all forms of foreign domination.