By Betsey Piette and Gloria Rubac
November 18, 2025
Philadelphia and Houston
In response to a significant U.S. military buildup near Venezuela, Philadelphia peace and justice organizations held a rally and march on Nov. 15, starting at City Hall and ending outside a military recruiting center. The demonstrators called for the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from the region and for the establishment of a genuine Zone of Peace in the Americas.
Philadelphia, Nov. 15, 2025. (PHOTO: Joe Piette)
The action was part of an international week of emergency protests called for Nov. 15-23 under the theme “No war on Venezuela! No troops on our streets!” Over 20 protests were held on Nov. 15.
The Philadelphia demonstration against U.S. imperialist aggression was organized and endorsed by Anakbayan, Black Alliance for Peace, Code Pink, Democratic Socialists of America, Free Congo, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Juntos, Koreans for Decolonization Penn, Korea Peace Committee, Mobilization4Mumia, Philadelphia Palestine Coalition, Philly Bund and Workers World Party.
Speakers included Geo Maher, who lived in Venezuela in 2006 and worked as a teacher with the Bolivarian Revolution under Hugo Chávez and is now a director of the Abolition School in Philadelphia. Maher condemned U.S. economic sanctions on Venezuela: “I am here to make it clear that I oppose any U.S. intervention in Venezuela. The U.S. has made it almost impossible for Venezuela to take care of its people.”
Other speakers at City Hall included a Puerto Rican activist with Philly Boricuas and Democratic Socialists of America and a member of Black Agenda for Peace.
Fernando, whose family still lives in Venezuela, in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer blamed the U.S. for Venezuela’s economic problems.
“My family has a bakery; they don’t have enough flour; they don’t have enough food because of the U.S. economic sanctions placed on the Venezuelan government,” said the 22-year-old who came to the protest in order to try to help his family. He told the Inquirer that people in Venezuela “don’t want the U.S., because they don’t want their military force bombing their houses, their schools, their hospitals.”
Speakers at the conclusion of the march which went up North Broad Street included a Venezuelan activist with Latino Anti Fascista Coalition, members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Workers World Party.
Protesters vowed to return, if necessary. “If they start a war abroad, we will start a war on Broad [Street],” said one protester, to applause from the crowd.
Houstonians oppose war on Venezuela
Houston anti-war activists were pleasantly surprised by the incredibly positive response to their demonstration held on Nov. 15 at a busy traffic circle. About half of the signs demanded the U.S. keep its hands off of Venezuela, the other half reading “Honk if you agree!”
Houston activists in front of Simón Bolívar statue, Nov. 15, 2025. (Credit: Patty Harlan)
For about an hour there was a constant cacophony of horns honking, raised fists out of car windows and people yelling “Yes!” to the demonstrators. Kay Bonnin, one of the organizers, said, “It was exciting that in a city that doesn’t have a big radical or progressive reputation, our demands were so well received.”
The demonstration was organized in response to the call for a week of emergency protests.
After the demonstration, there was a march to a bust of the great liberator from Spanish colonialism, Simón Bolívar, in a nearby park. Carrying signs and using a loudspeaker, again demonstrators received positive responses along the march. At the sculpture, a rally was held with speakers from the Houston Peace and Justice Center, the Communist Party USA, Workers World Party and independent activists.
Bernard Sampson, representing CPUSA, gave an educational talk about the horrifying interventions and bombings carried out by U.S. imperialism over the decades. All speakers were adamantly anti-imperialist and proud to be part of this week of actions.
This writer from Houston spoke for Workers World Party and connected the crimes of the U.S., from the genocide in Palestine to the murders of small boaters in the Caribbean who Trump fraudulently claims were narco-traffickers. She issued a call for continuing unity in this time of fascist actions by a government that doesn’t see the need for food and health care for the majority of people in the U.S. but spends billions of dollars on war and genocide. That the government should not be funding war, including the war on immigrants, was cheered by all.
