Originally published to The Virginia Defender Facebook page on the date given. Reproduced here for archival purposes.

By Phil Wilayto

RICHMOND, VA, Jan. 4 — Early yesterday morning, news broke that the U.S. had attacked the capital of Venezuela and surrounding areas and abducted the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.

These brazen acts, violating both U.S and international law, shocked the world. Within hours, protests had broken out across the U.S. and in many other countries.

In Richmond, more than 100 people turned out for a rally called by the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality outside the federal courthouse, the most prominent symbol of federal power in the city.

Despite temperatures in the mid-30s, the crowd held a banner and signs and chanted for an hour and a half, eliciting supporting honks and thumbs-up gestures from passing motorists, including at least one city bus driver.

The demands of the protest were:

• No War on Venezuela!
• Free President Nicolas Maduro & Cilia Flores!
• No Blood for Oil!
• Hands Off Latin America!

Rally chair Fern Diaz-Castro led the crowd in chants of “Hey hey, ho ho, this occupation’s got to go,” ”No blood for oil” and “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido.” (The people united will never be defeated!)

“When I heard about what happened last night, I was moved to tears,” Diaz-Castro said. “My heart is broken just sitting with the history of Latin America, the history of my people, knowing that once again it’s going to be our land that is impacted and hurt.”

After remarks by several Defenders, Diaz-Castro opened up the mic to anyone who wanted to speak. Among those who made comments were members of Friends of the Congo, Richmond Democratic Socialists of America, Richmond Food Not Bombs, Richmond Workers Assembly, Shaka Shakur Defense Committee, the prisoner support group UPROAR and the Richmond chapter of the Virginia Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators.

In the Summer/Fall edition of The Virginia Defender, published on Dec. 11, the Defenders had called for “day after” protests at sites such as city halls and federal buildings in the event of any attack on Venezuela. Three weeks later, it unfortunately was time to hold those protests.

In Norfolk, protesters gathered outside Naval Station Norfolk, homeport to many of the U.S. Navy ships now operating off the coast of Venezuela. Other protests took place in Charlottesville and Roanoke.

In Richmond, the Party of Socialism and Liberation held a separate rally, also condemning the attack on Venezuela.

As of this writing, President Maduro and first lady Flores are scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 5 in New York City to face bogus felony charges of drug trafficking and weapons possession. The Trump administration is presenting their abduction as a law enforcement action backed up by the U.S. military.

After initially claiming that its escalating aggression against Venezuela was about drugs, the Trump administration is now openly admitting it’s about oil. The universal observation by drug experts is that Venezuela is not a major source of drugs into the U.S. – but it does have the world’s largest known oil reserves.

After its attack on Venezuela, Trump raised the possibility of similar actions against Mexico and Colombia, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened Cuba.

While the attack on Venezuela and the abduction of its president and first lady may seem to be precedent-setting, that’s actually not true.

In mid-December of 1989, then-President H.W. Bush authorized an invasion of Panama in Central America. That country’s leader, Manuel Noriega, was arrested by U.S. troops on Jan. 3 – the same date as Maduro’s abduction.

After the protest at the Richmond federal courthouse, about 30 of the participants gathered at the Defenders’ office for coffee, tea, snacks and a discussion about the next steps to build opposition to the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the threats to other countries.

Stay tuned for new developments.

Media Coverage:

Channel 6 – CBS TV: Richmonders, local Venezuelan community split on US operation to oust Maduro

Channel 8 – ABC TV: Protesters rally against U.S. intervention in Venezuela as Virginians, leaders share mixed reactions

Channel 12 – NBC TV: Protests erupt outside Richmond federal courthouse against U.S. intervention in Venezuela

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Reactions from elected officials, RVA is mixed

RVAMag: Richmond Reacts to Venezuela Action as Warner, Kaine Speak Out

Richmond Free Press:
The city’s leading Black newspaper sent a reporter and photographer. The weekly’s next edition will publish on Jan. 8