Washington DC—Citizens turned out with their voices and signs in opposition to a U.S. blitzkrieg attack on Venezuela early morning Saturday. Grassroots groups rallied at the White House, at the Capitol, and in other locations in the DMV region. One such action was outside Tesla showroom in Arlington, the scene of resolute resistance actions continuing since just after Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025.
Grassroots groups made last minute banners and signs reading “No War In Venezuela” and “Regime Change Here, Not Venezuela,” with an arrow pointing towards a photo of the White House. The resistors staked out the Tesla showroom for about 2 hours to the delight of hundreds of honking motorists supporting their actions as they drove past.
The action was organized quickly as the result of news reports of the U.S. attack on Venezuela, one in which congressional leaders denounced as an illegal, unilateral attack without congressional approval under the War Powers Act.
Actions were also held in New York, Chicago, Portland, and Los Angeles, and other cities.
But by the time citizens had mobilized in the early afternoon, the overthrow of government had already been completed in Venezuela. U.S. Armed Forces, Soldiers and Special Forces had taken part in the operation with support from all the branches of the military. Mobile Cavalry Squadron helicopters were recorded flying low over Caracas, and had already struck key military installations across the city, toppled the Venezuelan government, and abducted key leadership.
Operation Absolute Resolve began over Caracas at 1:01 am EST and continued for about 90 minutes, deposing and removing from power, President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was key in helping Maduro maintain his control of presidential power since 2013.
Trump appeared on an hour long television newscast nearly an hour late from the time the White House staff announced he would speak. He voice sounded muted and subdued as he read from a script, meandering from it periodically. “[O]ur military, working with law enforcement, successfully captured [Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro] in the dead of night.” He later said that the military had deployed hundreds of aircraft, drones, and missiles to carry out the operation. No service members were killed in the operation although an untold number of Maduro’s security and defense forces were killed.
As he spoke a line of his cabinet, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, and White House Advisor Steven Miller stood behind him. Trump continued, “We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a proper and judicious transition.” He further said that the U.S. oil companies would rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure and sell the extracted oil to help return wealth and prosperity to Venezuelans, although he provided no concrete timeline as to how and when this would occur, or what the United States would do to “run Venezuela” in the meantime.
As one of the members of the press asked him about the details of running Venezuela, he gestured to the five cabinet members who stood behind him as to having the responsibility of determining the details of how running Venezuela would be managed.
Trump said that the operation also involved “law enforcement” which had arrested Maduro and Flores and had flown them out of Venezuela and embarked them aboard the carrier Iwo Jima. Marco Rubio said they were being indicted and would be held for trial in the Southern District of New York. The charges were filed against Maduro on March 5, 2020, about 7 months before Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.
Then, Maduro was charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. After Trump left office the 28-page indictment languished as it was unenforceable upon a chief of state of a foreign nation.
Since December 19, it was the fourth country the United States has attacked. Others include Syria in response to an ISIS led killings of Army National Guard troops, a Christmas Day attack on ISIS in Somalia, and a December 26 attack on ISIS in Nigeria with Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The attack in Venezuela and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores crossed a new line, according to historian and political analyst Heather Cox Richardson. Richardson said that the toppling of President Maduro destroyed the rules-based international order of sovereignty of nations established after World War II. The doctrine was adopted to stabilize world order and to help prevent world wars from occurring over disputed territory, water rights, trade, and resources allocations.
Richardson’s comments that Trump was destroying rules-based international order were supported by Trump’s attacks on boats off the coast of South American countries which he alleged without evidence, were transporting cocaine. Trump’s overt threats to make Canada the 51st State of the U.S., and his ambition to annex Greenland, also bely his international intention to recreate pre-world war ‘spheres of influence’ which led to the world wars of the last century.
The United Nations was chartered in connection with a rules-based international world order which was initiated in 1942 during WWII, and had administered international affairs and disputes between nations. The U.S., Russia (then known as U.S.S.R.), United Kingdom, France, and China were its permanent members. With the invasion of Venezuela and the overthrow of President Maduro, the U.S. has in effect green-lighted any other nation to invade any other sovereign nation in order to secure resources.
Key congressional leaders were emphatic in their denouncements that the invasion of Venezuela and toppling of its government leadership was an illegal act of war against a sovereign country. This theme was reflected by leaders internationally as well.
As night fell, it was reported that the rendition of Maduro had been successfully completed and he had been transferred by air to New York and moved to an undisclosed location.
