Mayor Zohran Mamdani had once called for lifting US sanctions on Venezuela and blamed them for contributing to the local migrant crisis.
Mamdani had been serving as a state assemblyman when he signed onto a 2023 statement from the city chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America on the influx of migrants from the southern border.
“Many of the new arrivals have been displaced as a result of destabilizing economic policies by the United States’ ruling class: from the climate crisis caused by multinational corporations to direct foreign interventions against nations like Venezuela, Cuba, and Guatemala,” said the Sept. 18 statement, which was also signed by US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and 20 other politicians from across the state.
The statement demanded the US government end the “Rubio-Trump” 2017 sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
“The root causes of the economic precarity and destabilization that has forced thousands to leave their homes and seek shelter in the United States can be attributed to US foreign policy: sanctions, exploitative trade agreements, and political coups,” the statement said.
“By ending sanctions on Venezuela, we can begin to improve the economic conditions contributing to destabilization and displacement.”
Much of the statement criticized then-Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s treatment of tens of thousands of asylum seekers.
Mamdani said on Saturday he called President Trump to personally say he opposed the administration’s removal and capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a targeted military raid.
“Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law,” Mamdani said.
“This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home. My focus is their safety and the safety of every New Yorker, and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant guidance.”
Mamdani had previously expressed interest in Venezuela back in 2013, saying Venezuelans should serve as monitors during disputed elections in Zimbabwe, according to his X feed.
“Shudder!! #Zimbabwe’s govt banned Western countries + invited monitors from Venezuela, China, Ethiopia, Sudan, Cuba, Belarus,” wrote African journalist Rosebell Kagumire,
Hizzoner – who was then a Bowdoin College student – said on July 29, 2013, “Venezuela’s election protocol is not so shabby, why fault their capability as observers?”
Kagumuire told Mamdani she was hoping Ugandan journalists would get released from prison, using the hashtag #FreeUgandaJournos.
But Mamdani stood by his position in support of Venezuelan officials serving as election monitors.
“My point was more that Venezuela’s inclusion shouldn’t prompt a ‘shudder’, less that [Venezuela’s] presence would solve all of [Zimbabwe’s] issues,” he said.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was the Maduro regime’s actions that caused the upheaval and spiraling conditions in the country.
They defended the capture and arrest of Maduro, claiming the socialist dictator is a drug-trafficker.
