Within 24 hours of the United States military incursion into Venezuela, code-named
“Operation Absolute Resolve,” Albuquerque was among several cities across the country that saw protests against the attack.
Hundreds marched from Robinson Park to Civic Plaza on Jan. 3, chanting “stop the U.S. war machine,” and "Venezuela isn’t yours.”
On Jan. 3, the U.S. military launched airstrikes on the La Carlota military airbase in Caracas at 2 a.m. local time, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is now being held in federal jail in New York City awaiting trial, according to NPR.
During a Jan. 3 press conference, President Donald Trump said the U.S. is “going to run” Venezuela until there is a “proper” transition of power. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president that evening, according to the country’s supreme court.
About 100 people were killed in Venezuela during the attack, the Venezuelan interior minister said, according to Reuters, and the Washington Post reported that seven U.S. soldiers were injured.
Patrick Gallegos, who attended the march, said there was a “stratification of political opinions” at the protest, but that the consensus was “no war with Venezuela.”
“When I woke up this morning, it was pretty devastating,” Gallegos said. “I knew something like that was going to happen, but hearing that (the U.S.) just basically kidnapped a world leader with impunity was really hard to hear, and that's why we're out here mobilizing, because it's an act of war.”
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research Director Suzanne Schadl said that she sees the capture of Maduro and the way it was executed as part of a larger gradual “democratic backslide” in the United States under Trump’s presidency.
“To go put military on the ground, in certain structures in (Caracas), capture the sitting president, be he a dictator or not, and his wife, without prior authorization of Congress, without the opportunity for the American people to even engage in a discussion about whether they support that is indicative of that backslide,” Schadl said.
Carlos Rojas, a Venezuela native and owner of the local Venezuelan restaurant Arepas El pana, said that he felt happy when he first learned the news of Maduro’s capture, but that he is still concerned because Venezuela’s interim President Rodríguez is part of the same political party as Maduro.
“We've been fighting for that for more than the last 15 years,” Rojas told The Daily Lobo. “Right now we're unstable with Maduro being taken out of the country, but I support it. That guy was a menace in the region, he killed people for protesting.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Venezuela's government registered nearly 5,300 killings during security operations in 2018, followed by a United Nations report in 2019 citing cases of repression of political opponents, arbitrary detentions and cases of torture, according to PBS.
“I mean, the United States is the strongest democracy in the world. There's no doubt about it. I trust the process, I trust the United States,” Rojas said.
Rojas said he has siblings in Venezuela who are scared because of the increased repression of those who support Maduro’s capture.
“While I can empathize with Venezuelans in the United States who are pleased to see Maduro taken down, so to speak, I would caution against celebrating the way that happened because it requires a disregard for constitutional process in the United States that is not so far afield from the historic decline or backslide from democracy in Venezuela that enabled Maduro to come to power,” Schadl said.
Local community organizer Jonathan Juarez, who spoke during the protest, said the U.S executive branch has “gone rogue,” and highlighted the fact that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world.
“(The U.S) wants to call Maduro this criminal, and there is truth to that, but look at who is pointing the finger,” Juarez told the crowd. “Make no mistake, Venezuela is not the villain in this story.”
Protester Cesar Gonzalez said that he showed up to march against the “U.S. imperialist war machine,” and criticized U.S. involvement in Venezuela.
“I'm here because I'm tired of the U.S. creating war for profit, for resources, and creating chaos and destabilization, and most importantly, death and destruction in the process,” Gonzalez said.
Schadl said that the gradual decline of democratic processes after the election of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in 1999 enabled the dictatorship that took over Venezuela, and that she sees similarities occurring in the U.S.
“There's no question that Maduro abused power, abused people, but I don't think that it's okay to give our administration a pass because of that,” Schadl said. “That backslide is precisely what underscores the U.S. taking war acts against another country without any public discussion.”
Schadl said that “it’s easy to lose sight of a bigger picture,” when people “live in the moment.”
“We're 13 months into this presidency and a lot of people are exhausted by the daily news cycle, there’s just too many puzzle pieces to put together,” Schadl said. “We are experiencing that sort of loss of faith in our government structures alongside the sort of complete middle finger to those government structures that's coming from the government.”
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
