A rapidly organized protest drew more than 400 people to downtown San Francisco on Saturday, January 3, following news of an overnight United States military operation in Venezuela that included airstrikes in the capital city of Caracas, and resulted in the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro has led Venezuela since 2013 and has long been the target of U.S. sanctions and criminal charges, but the operation marked a rare instance of direct U.S. military action against a sitting foreign head of state.
The protest, organized by the ANSWER Coalition, began at the intersection of Powell and Market streets. Demonstrators waved Venezuelan flags and held signs and banners calling for an end to U.S. interference in Venezuela.
Organizers from several advocacy groups emphasized two main points of contention with President Donald Trump’s decision to carry out the military operation. They argued that funds used for the operation — and the possibility of prolonged military involvement — should instead be invested in the needs of the American people. They also contended that the campaign is meant to serve only corporate and wealthy interests rather than everyday Americans and Venezuelans.
“[That] money that could be funding our schools,” said C.J., an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “It’s money that could pay for jobs, money that could pay for food.” She added that the U.S. “needs to stop the wars, stop the racism, stop the imperialism, and let’s work on funding our needs here.”
Sanika Mahajan, director of community engagement and organizing at Dolores Street Community Services, pointed to what she described as a further escalation between the Trump administration’s treatment of Venezuelan immigrants in the United States and its stated justification for intervening in Venezuela.
“It’s really one and the same, the people who are going to benefit off the war in Venezuela, and [from] the deportations of our community members who are immigrants here” Mahajan said. “If we really cared about the Venezuelan people, we would allow them into this country, we would allow full rights for all immigrants.”
Protest organizers led the crowd on a march down Market St., eventually turning into Civic Center Plaza and stopping at the foot of the statue of Simón Bolivar, a gift from Venezuela honoring the South American leader who fought for independence against Spanish colonial rule.
Omar Khoury, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, drew parallels between the bombing of Caracas and prolonged U.S. and US-backed Israeli military intervention in the Middle East.
“We know too well this playbook of lies to cover for an imperialist war,” Khoury
said. “They lied to us in Iraq… They lied to us about Iran… they lied to us about the entirety of Palestinian society, naming [them] terrorists… they were wrong. We know this playbook, and we know the threat to Venezuela.”
Saikat Chakrabarti, a candidate for California’s District 11 congressional seat who attended the protest, said the military intervention in Venezuela has troubling similarities to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
“We created long-lasting instability in the region. I’m watching the same thing happen right now,” said Chakrabarti. “We do a strike, and we take Maduro out, and it’s for the purpose of our corporations going in there and stealing from their country. There are literally financial executives flying into Venezuela today to look at investment prospects.”
Chakrabarti called for congressional oversight of the U.S. military abroad The U.S. Senate is expected to vote next week on a resolution that would block Trump from continuing military action against Venezuela.
“We need to see Congress reassert its power, “ he said, “What we need is for there to be a hard breaker that says, ‘Congress authorizes war, this was illegal, and Trump needs to be held accountable.’ ”
