Protests erupted across the country this weekend after the Trump administration illegally kidnapped President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the dark morning hours of January 2. Americans woke up Saturday to the news of this major escalation, after months of news of deadly U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
Within hours, protests against this violent U.S. military aggression were held in cities large and small, from New York and LA, to Phoenixville and Lancaster. In Lancaster, PA over a hundred people came out Sunday, January 4 to say: No War on Venezuela! Protestors carried signs with signs that read, “No Blood for Oil” and “U.S. Out of The Caribbean”. Rally speakers made the connection to the Iraq War, where similar lies were used to justify violent regime change operations by the U.S.
This escalation by the U.S. against Venezuela did not happen in a day. Neither did the protests against the aggression begin this weekend. On December 6, protests were also held in dozens of cities across the country, even locally in Pennsylvania in cities like Gettysburg and Phoenixville. The protests there numbered in the dozens, and were in response to the Trump administration’s extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean.1 That day, the people chanted, “Money for Healthcare and Education, Not for Wars and Deportations.”
Americans have consistently polled that they are tired of endless wars and do not want a war with Venezuela.2 Meanwhile, Trump and Rubio made ominous threats to Cuba this weekend, that were followed by threats to potentially do the similar violations of sovereignty in Mexico and Colombia.3
Rubio and Trump are pedaling the lie the Maduro is the head of a drug trafficking organization supposed called “Cartel de los Soles”. This is a claim Rubio continued to make as recently as January 4th, yet experts say this cartel does not exist.4 Both Trump and Rubio have made multiple brazen statements in the past week making their true motives clear. Saying that we need to “take our oil back” and “protect it,” in reference to Venezuela’s oil reserves – the largest in the world.5
At his press conference on Saturday, Trump stated that the illegal operation was “one of the greatest attacks on sovereignty”. He never even caught his own Freudian slip before rambling onto a new tangent. But also, he doesn’t even need to anymore. The mask of the horrors of U.S. hegemony has slipped further off with this second Trump administration, and we know the evils of US imperialism didn’t start today.
One only has to look at the genocide being carried in Gaza for over two years now to see it. The Biden and Trump administrations have been quick to give billions of dollars to wanted war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu. Mere days before Maduro’s kidnapping, Netanyahu visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, marking his fifth visit with Trump in 2025.6 It’s also difficult to forget when Netanyahu gave a speech before Congress to standing ovations from both parties.7
But the people are tired of so much money going to wars abroad while the government cuts healthcare and education at home. Rally speakers highlighted all the money being spent on war in particular, which is far more than what the U.S. spends on healthcare, education, and transportation combined. Protesters in Lancaster chanted, “Think how better things could be / if we stopped funding killing sprees!”
The Trump administration’s illegal, unprovoked, and immoral war on Venezuela will not be the end. Trump even went as far in his press conference to say that the U.S. would govern Venezuela. When asked for clarification, he pointed to the people behind him, including Secretary Marco Rubio and Pete Hegeseth, the head of the newly and aptly named, “Department of War”.
But the US is not at war. These strikes that Trump and Hegeseth have carried out the Caribbean are the work of mass murderers. Multiple speakers at rallies across Pennsylvania made it clear: the real criminals are in the White House. Americans’ outrage at their government dragging them into yet another endless war is not going away. To quote signs and chants across the country: “No Blood for Oil”. Americans don’t want war on Venezuela, let alone on Cuba or Colombia, as Trump and his ilk have openly threatened.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands with the people of Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico in the face of U.S. military threats and aggression. The people don’t want wars abroad and cuts at home, they want housing, healthcare and education. U.S. out of the Caribbean!
Sources:
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/a-timeline-of-u-s-military-escalation-against-venezuela-leading-to-maduros-capture
- https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5619921-americans-oppose-venezuela-military-action/
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/watch-live-trump-holds-news-conference-after-announcing-u-s-has-captured-venezuelan-leader-maduro
- https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/01/americas/trump-venezuela-maduro-drug-threat-analysis-intl-latam
- https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/oil-reserves-by-country
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/29/netanyahu-to-meet-trump-in-us-amid-fears-of-israeli-regional-offensives
- https://www.democracynow.org/2024/7/25/headlines/us_lawmakers_delivers_standing_ovations_for_war_criminal_netanyahu_100_democrats_skip_speech