Declaration of the Venezuelan Association of University StudentsRegional Government of the Bolivarian State of Mérida (FVEU MÉRIDA)

11 February 2026

As the General Student Committee of the University of Hamburg, we see ourselves as the voice of students and a platform for international student perspectives. Especially in times of global political tension, it is important to us that students from affected regions have a chance to speak for themselves and make their views, experiences, and positions visible.

With this in mind, we are publishing a statement from the Venezuelan Association of University Students of the State of Mérida (FVEU Mérida). With this publication, we want to give Venezuelan students a voice and provide insight into their political positioning and their response to international developments.

SHIELD OF THE CARIBBEAN AGAINST IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION

The Venezuelan Federation of University Students of the Bolivarian State of Mérida, together with all university students – the vanguard of hope – raise their voices before the international community and the Venezuelan people to categorically reject the delusional and criminal threats of North American imperialism against our sacred homeland.

The barking from the north does not surprise us. But Mr Trump and his lackeys should know: there are no young people here who are on their knees. The Caribbean blood of our ancestors flows through our veins, burning and alive; that indomitable blood that never bowed to the sword of the colonisers.

Our irreverence is not a whim, it is the legacy of Guaicaipuro and Apacuana; it is the war cry that echoes in our conscience in the face of any attempt to subjugate us through hunger or violence. We are the sons and daughters of the storm, forged in the heat of the struggle for independence. If yesterday our liberators crossed the Andes barefoot to drive out the most powerful empire of the time, today we will transform every street, every university, every factory and every sports field into an impregnable trench of dignity with the same determination.

Let the whole world hear it: our loyalty is neither negotiable nor for sale. Just as the Grand Marshal of Ayacucho, Antonio José de Sucre, was the most faithful, brilliant and loyal soldier of Father Simón Bolívar, standing firmly by his side in glory and adversity, we university students swear before history and before the memory of our commander Chávez absolute and unwavering loyalty to the Bolivarian Revolution and its legitimate leadership. We are the Sucres of our time: disciplined, courageous and loyal until victory, forever!

We do not want to be a colony, and we have the historical certainty that we will never be the colony of any empire; there is no alternative to our independence. We will respond to blockades and threats with more creativity, productivity, study and the “rifle of reason”.

Independence or nothing!

Sovereignty or nothing!