Anti-Israel activist groups and far Left organizations that had been at the forefront of demonstrations post the October 7 massacre, organized rallies on Saturday in protest of the US military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Celia Flores.
Palestinian Youth Movement urged supporters to join the “Palestine contingent” of the “hands-off Venezuela” campaign in a Saturday Instagram post. PYM directed Los Angeles activists to join a Pershing Square protest organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and a Washington Boulevard rally organized by Union Del Barrio (UdB).
“After weeks of provocation, including the murder of Venezuelan fishermen and theft of Venezuela’s oil and ships, the Trump regime has escalated its violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and abducted its president, Nicholas Maduro,” PYM said in a separate statement earlier in the day.
“[US President Donald] Trump is using ‘narcoterrorism’ as a pretext to destabilize Venezuela and facilitate the theft of Venezuela’s oil and natural wealth through regime change. We condemn this scheme and stand with the Venezuelan people.”
National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) took to social media, calling for activists to “take action” and “defend Venezuelan sovereignty” from the “United States of Terror.”
“As the US ruling class and their political puppets indicate their intention to engage Iran directly and tensions between the empire and China rise, this attempt at regime change in Venezuela must be understood as a desperate seizure of critical resources in the face of a potentially globalized war,” National SJP said on Instagram.
Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition organized protests throughout the country, but Palestine Action US founder Calla Walsh said on X/Twitter that protests would not be enough to counter US action, urging supporters to damage defense industry facilities instead.
“To people who feel outraged, please go plan sabotaging a weapons factory or literally anything more meaningful than another useless police-coordinated NGO parade,” said Walsh.
ANSWER said on social media that it had organized protests in 75 cities across the United States, including hundreds in New York City. Activists march through the city streets with Venezuelan flags, demanding, “Stop the bombing right now.”
'US has no right to dictate its desires to people of the world'
Some activists displayed hammer and sickle imagery, while others from the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation-Awda (PAL-Awda) NY/NJ marched with a banner calling for “liberation” and “return” emblazoned with the red inverted triangle favored in Hamas propaganda to denote an enemy target.
“How dare Trump say from the White House today that they run Venezuela. They don’t run Venezuela, the people of Venezuela run Venezuela,” People’s Forum director Manolo De Los Santos said to a crowd of hundreds in Times Square. “The US has no right to dictate its desires to the people of the world.”
Los Santos said that the US operation was criminal and that no country had the right to put another country’s president on trial.
The Party of Liberation and Socialism rallied in front of the White House, accusing the US government of trading in “blood for oil.” PSL said the US was using pretenses of counter narcotics trafficking to steal Venezuela’s resources.
“Trump lied when he promised to end the wars – he might be the biggest warmonger to ever hold office!” PSL said on social media. “In his one year back in power, Trump has unleashed the Pentagon war machine in bombardments of Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, and Venezuela – and provided the missiles and bombs that rained down in the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza.”
Code Pink called on activists to take to the streets, organize protests, and call congressional offices in opposition to Trump’s “Monroe Doctrine” 2.0. [“A common-sense and potent restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests” as a key component of the National Security Strategy 202.]
“Make it impossible for this war to proceed quietly, legally disguised, or uncontested,” Code Pink said in a social media statement.