By Betsey Piette
January 8, 2026

Just 12 hours after the U.S. violently violated Venezuela’s sovereignty and kidnapped democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro and his spouse Cilia Flores on Jan. 3, protesters filled the streets of at least 100 cities in the U.S. and around the globe. More actions were scheduled for Jan. 4 and 5 and will no doubt continue until Maduro is released and U.S. imperialist aggression against Venezuela stops.

As Donald Trump proclaimed that the U.S. would take over running Venezuela, the protests delivered a clear message that the U.S. murderous assaults on fishing boats in the region and the seizure of oil tankers had nothing to do with drugs. It was all about regime change and the desire by major U.S. corporations like Halliburton, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and others to regain control over and rake in profits from Venezuela’s rich oil resources. But the people in a clear, united voice are saying “Hell No!”

Hundreds converged at Boston’s Park Street Station on Jan. 3, in an urgent display of unity and condemnation directed at the Trump regime and the Pentagon’s bloody, shock-and-awe regime change and war crimes committed against the Venezuelan people and their beloved Bolivarian leaders. Protesters extended their heartfelt solidarity with the people of Venezuela and the Global South who are defending their national sovereignty while facing relentless sanctions, forced occupation, military aggression, theft and poisoning of their lands and natural resources.

Speakers included representatives of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Boston Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Boston Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and Mass Peace Action along with teachers, trade unionists and youth. In the crowd were Puerto Rican independentista activists who condemned the U.S’s continued colonization and military occupation of their homeland used to launch invasions.

Latin American community leaders waved the flags and banners of their home countries and national liberation movements. Veterans for Peace (VFP), About Face-Veterans Against War, Workers World Party (WWP), MA 5051, disability rights and health care activists, Boston AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and a newly formed Protect Trans Futures chapter fighting Trump’s vicious attacks on LGBTQIA2S+ communities organized and participated.

Lea from PYM fired up the crowd: “If the 1% can unite around their death cult, can we, the 99%, unite to fight for a life worth living? They may have billions of dollars, but we have billions of people. The people of conscience from Palestine to Venezuela are rising up and will continue to rise until we take back our future.”

A spirited and militant march kicked off through the streets of downtown ending at Boston City Hall where organizers vowed to continue strengthening the anti-imperialist movement and the struggle of workers and oppressed people here in the belly of the beast.

Thousands in Times Square

Thousands of people gathered at Times Square in New York City on Jan. 3 in an emergency response to the Trump administration’s criminal actions. Speakers said the kidnapping of Maduro and Flores and the false charges brought against them are an attempt by the U.S. government to impose regime change and gain access to Venezuela’s oil.

President Trump declared at a press conference earlier in the day that the United States will now run Venezuela. “We’ve got to know that this is not possible,’’ Sara Flounders, contributing editor of Workers World newspaper and member of the United National Antiwar Coalition, told the crowd: “They will fail in Venezuela, because there is a nine-million-strong Venezuelan militia. It is armed, it is organized, it is mobilized. They will not accept the U.S. running Venezuela or stealing their oil or gas or resources.’’

The protesters marched to Columbus Circle where they stood at the base of a statue to Christopher Columbus chanting, “Donald Trump you’re a liar, no more war for empire!’’ and “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!’’

Hundreds of protesters filled the streets of Philadelphia on Jan. 3, shutting down North Broad Street as they marched from City Hall to the Armed Forces Career Center on Spring Garden Street to condemn the Jan. 3 military aggression as an act of flagrant imperialist action that violates Venezuela’s right to self-determination.

Several speakers addressed the rally, including two Venezuelan activists with the Philadelphia No War on Venezuela coalition who noted that the attack on Maduro will only lead to more Maduros rising up in resistance. One of them spoke to the hypocrisy of the U.S. military trying to recruit young Latinos with promises of green cards for family members while dropping bombs on their families’ homes in Latin America.

Groups supporting the event included Anti-Imperialist South Asian Alliance; Black Alliance for Peace (BAP); DSA; Jewish Labor Bund; Koreans for Decolonization; Latino Anti-Fascist Front; Marxist Education Group; PSL; Peace, Justice and Sustainability; Philadelphia Anti-War; Philadelphia Palestine Coalition; W.E.B. Du Bois Abolition School; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; and WWP.

Multiple actions in Metro Atlanta

Within hours of the news of the Trump attacks on Venezuela, protests in Atlanta were called for both Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 in different parts of the metropolitan area. The first was held at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown. A loud crowd of 150 gathered on the sidewalk with banners, signs and chants proclaiming solidarity with Venezuela. People denounced the Trump administration’s imperialist assault and kidnapping of the President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores. Initiated by ANSWER, the turnout reflected the many political and community organizations active in the city.

Two actions took place on Jan. 4. One was in Decatur, a city adjacent to Atlanta  where residents lined a busy intersection and encouraged drivers to honk their horns in opposition to the military assault on Venezuela. A second rally and march began in Piedmont Park and marched to the North Avenue bridge over I-85 and I-75, where it was visible to traffic on this major interstate intersection that cuts through Atlanta. This protest was called by several organizations, including Indivisible and DSA.

The Atlanta chapter of No War on Venezuela Coalition held a scheduled organizing meeting on Jan. 3 and discussed what was known at that time of the attack. They proceeded to organize with increased resolve for solidarity actions scheduled for Jan. 19 and 24.  Member groups include BAP, VFP, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM), Scientific Socialism study group, Resistance Cinema and WWP.

In Buffalo, New York, members of WWP and the Fingerlakes branch of PSL staged a banner drop at 9 a.m. on Jan. 4. A banner that read “Hands off Venezuela, Stop the Bombs” was hung from a highway overpass. Support honking began even before the banner was fully put up and continued until state troopers took it down an hour later.

In less than eight hours, Cleveland activists pulled together a militant protest in response to Trump’s attack on Venezuela. Rally speakers represented the Boricua Libre Collective, Cleveland Peace Action, PSL, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), WWP and Clevelanders United Against War. Additional endorsers included PYM, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and the InterReligious Task Force on Central America and Colombia.

In Chicago several hundred people gathered in Federal Plaza as night fell on Jan. 3 denouncing the kidnapping of Maduro as an act of imperialism that people in the U.S. did  not vote for, carried out without required Congressional approval.

They held signs that read “No Blood for Oil,” “No U.S. War on Venezuela” and “Hands Off Latin America.” Participants voiced concerns for people in the military who are the ones who may have to go to war. A high school teacher stated that with all the problems facing people in the U.S., going to war is the last thing they need.

Following the rally, protesters marched to Trump Tower Chicago. Organizers warned that if Trump’s war continues, there will be many more events and larger ones in response. (New York Times, Jan. 4)

Over 300 people showed up at the Capitol in Denver Jan. 3 to protest the U.S. bombing of Venezuela and the kidnapping of Maduro. Protesters included Jeanette Vizguerra, recently freed from nine months of detention, and Rebecca Zuniga, leader of the Denver Justice and Peace Organization. Weekly vigils at the GeoGroup Detention Centers were held for nine months until Vizguerra was freed just before Christmas.

Speakers noted that Trump claims the U.S. will take over the oil, which his oil baron buddies have coveted, and also not allow it to be sold to countries the U.S. doesn’t like. Nor would the money from the oil be used for the benefit of the Venezuelan people, which has been the goal of the Bolivarian revolution. Venezuela has not attacked the U.S., whose military attacks on Venezuela have broken many international laws against sovereignty

While denouncing the use of military power to get what the U.S. wants, speakers noted that these old colonial methods of theft will not work anymore but can cause great harm in this process of transformation.

Antiwar actions around Texas, Pacific Northwest

A militant demonstration of hundreds of activists gathered at one of Houston‘s busiest intersections on Jan. 4 to oppose the U.S. bombing of the sovereign nation of Venezuela and the kidnappings of its President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores. Coordinators of the action were the DSA and ANSWER. Participating organizations  included PYM, VFP, PSL, the Communist Party USA, WWP, Stand Up! Houston Immigrant Rights Volunteer Network, the Houston Democracy Project and the Unitarian Church. Over 50 Houston cops surrounded the protest and trapped people inside barricades.

Every major Texas city had protests against Trump’s attacks, but small towns were also outraged. In Hondo, population 8,000, a demonstration was called by Chicanos Against Military Intervention in Latin America (CAMILA).   

On Jan. 3, around 6 p.m., Dallas residents and members of numerous revolutionary organizations mobilized at Main Street Garden Park for a planned emergency action on the day Caracas was struck by the U.S. Workers World was featured among the contributing organizations and proudly stood united among those opposed to the imperialist war now being carried out by the United States.

Speakers included members of FRSO, PYM, El Movimiento and Revolutionary Front, as well as Zeeshan Hafeez, Democratic candidate for Texas’ 33rd congressional district, who spoke openly against the war and about his frustration with establishment Democrats who, in his words, “do not have the fortitude to stand against Trump.”

Overall, the demonstration, which organizers stated was the largest they had seen so far, showed above all else that the workers of Dallas do not want this war, and that they are committed to opposing another forever war.

In Seattle on Jan. 3, over 150 people came out to protest the U.S. overnight blitzkrieg war against Venezuela. The demonstration was seen by thousands of shoppers and even joined by several of them in front of the Pike Place Market.

Participating organizations included Seattle Against War, International League for People’s Struggle (ILPS), FRSO, Bilyad (Palestinian solidarity),  Comunidad Sin Fronteras, VFP, Seattle Antiwar Coalition, Anakbayan and WWP.

Three protests in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 3, opposing Trump’s war on Venezuela brought together 500 people who demanded: “No War on Venezuela!” and “Free Maduro Now!” Demonstrators also chanted: “No more war and occupation, money for jobs and education!”

A constant stream of honking cars passing by the rally gestured appreciation and thanks to demonstrators. The three actions that formed the coalition rally were organized by FRSO, Portland for Palestine, Code Pink and PSL. Several other Portland groups were at the demonstration.

Another rally was held on Jan. 4 organized by Resist U.S. Led War, a coalition of groups including WWP, All African People’s Revolutionary Party, End the Blockade of Cuba-PDX, VFP, ILPS, People Organizing for Philippine Solidarity, American Party of Labor, CP USA, Code Pink and others.

Demonstrations also took place in Providence, Rhode Island; Syracuse, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; Charleston, South Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Brenda Ryan, Alex Quinn, Viviana Weinstein, Alex Colwell, Lyn Neeley, Dianne Mathiowetz, Jim McMahan, Maureen Skehan, Martha Grevatt and Gloria Rubac contributed to this article.