The International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) strongly condemns the military aggression, foreign intervention, and the reported kidnapping of the Head of the state of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, carried out by the government of the United States of America on 3 January 2026.

These actions constitute a grave violation of international law and of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, including respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence, and the right of peoples to self-determination. The use of military force, combined with the unlawful seizure of a head of state, forms part of a broader pattern of escalating aggression in the region, including reports of U.S. forces killing civilian fishermen and subsequently labeling them as criminals without evidence or due process. Such extrajudicial violence against civilians undermines international norms, threatens global stability, and fosters a climate of fear, impunity, and human rights violations.

In Paraguay, thousands of young people face a reality marked by unemployment, informal work, job insecurity, and lack of access to technical training or higher education. Many live in peripheral neighborhoods where informality, forced migration, violence, and state failure prevail. They find themselves without clear prospects, with few tools to build a dignified future, without support networks or guidance, without spaces for organization, but with the will to cope and tackle these realities.

In Venezuela, workers face job instability, insufficient and precarious wages, exploitation that causes both physical and mental exhaustion, and excessively long working hours that make it impossible to combine work with studies.

After weathering the worst financial crisis in decades, Sri Lanka experienced a fragile economic recovery in 2024. However, rising prices, low wages, and high unemployment continue to weigh heavily on the population, particularly the most marginalized groups, including women and informal workers.