After it was announced that the US had captured Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro, protests broke out in cities such as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City.
video footage Posted The And “No blood for oil.”
According to ABC7NY, “a group of people demonstrated in Times Square” after Maduro was captured. Protesters claimed that Maduro’s capture was “not about drug trafficking or democracy”, but rather it was about “stealing oil and dominating Latin America.”
The outlet also noted that while some Venezuelans celebrated Maduro’s capture, others expressed that they were worried about their family members still in Venezuela.
One person, Marilla Moreira, who “fled Venezuela about 30 years ago during the Chávez era” said she was “very happy”, while Kenia Fernández who came to the city “a year and a half ago” revealed that her mother was “scared”.
“She told me not to send her videos or anything in Venezuela because she was afraid they would intercept her phone or social media,” Fernandez told the outlet.
According to WHYY.org, in Philadelphia, “more than 100 people” marched “from Philadelphia City Hall to the U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Center on Spring Garden Street”, calling on Congress to “take back its power”.
According to the outlet, protesters in the city held placards with the words “No war on Venezuela” and “End US imperialism.”
David Gibson, one of the organizers of the protest, said that Congress “should represent the people” and that citizens should “decide whether or not to go to war.”
Another organizer, described as a “Venezuelan American and Philadelphia resident”, said that protesters had gathered because they “agreed that Venezuela should have sovereignty.”
“We are all here because we agree that Venezuela should have sovereignty,” the person said. “We are here because we believe that Venezuela must be free from US imperialist aggression and violence.”
The protests came after President Donald Trump announced Saturday morning that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had been “captured and deported from the country.”
“The United States has conducted a massively successful attack against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been captured and deported from the country along with his wife,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “This operation was carried out in conjunction with US law enforcement. Details follow. There will be a news conference at Mar-a-Lago today at 11 am.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Maduro and his wife were “indicted in the Southern District of New York.”
“Nicolás Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to commit machine guns and destructive devices against the United States,” Bondi said.
