Many New Jerseyans gathered at Jersey City’s Riverview-Fisk Park on Tuesday evening to speak out against the U.S. military’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
The demonstration was formed by local elected officials and advocacy groups who condemned the attack and arrest as imperialist intervention. Those present include members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), Ceasefire Now NJ, and Cosecha NJ.
“We are here today for one reason: to condemn U.S imperialism towards the people of Venezuela,” said Eric Cortez, treasurer of the North New Jersey DSA. “The U.S.A. has a long history of supporting coups against leftist and Latin American governments that have stood in opposition to U.S. interests. Make no mistake, the abduction of Nicolás Maduro is only a small chapter in this history.”
According to the latest U.S. Census, New Jersey has a Venezuelan population of 17,295, which is 0.19% of the state population and 2.4% of the country’s total Venezuelan population. Jersey City is said to have the second-largest Venezuelan population in the Garden State, with more than 1,000 people.
With the city’s concentrated Venezuelan community, the Jan. 6 gathering carried significant weight as local Venezuelans grapple with what Maduro’s arrest means for their home country.
Maduro’s Arrest
Following the U.S. attack on Venezuela, whichreportedly killed at least 56 people, Maduro and Flores were flown to New York City, where they pleaded not guilty to charges in federal court.
Maduro has been indicted on four counts of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Those who gathered in Jersey City criticized the Trump Administration for investing in war overseas while U.S. residents live in poverty without food, housing, and health care.
“I think there’s no right that we have as a country, our military has, Trump has to go in and abduct a foreign leader, and all of this is really just drum beating, one, to distract from all the problems that we have here domestically,” said Jersey City Ward D Councilmember-Elect Jake Ephros.
Joel Brooks, Jersey City Ward B Councilmember-Elect, echoed similar concerns about U.S. military intervention.
“We are not going to send people, working-class people, to die and to fight for oil,” said Brooks. “We’ve seen this movie before. I’m old enough to remember the first one, and I had friends that went to Iraq and came back very different. Very changed. And it’s unthinkable that we’re on the precipice of another war.”
The Large Context: Maduro’s Track Record
Though the attack on Venezuela and Maduro’s arrest have been criticized, the latter’s actions as president have long made him a figure of controversy since he was first elected in 2013. Some people even appeared in Jersey City to show support for his arrest, considering him an authoritarian dictator.
In Maduro’s first term, Venezuela experienced a severe crisis, with minimum wages plummeting and inflation, poverty, and state-sponsored violence and killings skyrocketing.
Though Maduro was re-elected in 2018, his presidency has allegedly devolved into an illegitimate dictatorship. Most of the opposing political parties and candidates were barred from taking part in the 2018 presidential election.
One demonstrator, who wished to be referred to as “Andres,” supported Maduro’s arrest, as his Venezuelan wife was forced to flee her home country because of the president’s “repressive” regime, as people were “kidnapped, captured, tortured.”
“There’s mothers out there that didn’t know where their sons were because they were captured by the Maduro regime and the socialists, if you want to call them, or whatever you want to call them, but they were basically a dictatorship,” said Andres.” The DSA will argue they’re not a dictatorship…. But when you have your freedom of speech hindered or blocked, it’s no longer a free country.”
The Broader Stakes Of U.S. Intervention
While some celebrated Maduro’s arrest, the U.S.’s intervention has raised significant concerns among activists about American military action and resource extraction in Venezuela.
The U.S. military has been accused of violating international law and the United Nations Charter by arresting him. One local PSL member stated the charges against Maduro as “ridiculously and completely baseless,” and that he is being subjected to a “fraudulent” and “illegitimate legal process.”
Despite President Trump’s declaration that the U.S. government would temporarily “run” Venezuela, the latter’s own government has remained intact, with Vice President Delcy Rodríguez sworn in as interim president in Maduro’s absence.
Nevertheless, Maduro’s arrest and Trump’s threats have ignited fears of more violence between the U.S. and Venezuela for control of the latter’s oil reserves, which reportedly account for almost a fifth of global oil reserves (an estimated 303 billion barrels).
Trump was open about his plan for Venezuela’s oil, saying that U.S. oil companies will start operating in the country. As a result, the attack on Venezuela has been likened to the U.S.’s war in Iraq, which the Bush Administration accused of harboring “weapons of mass destruction” based on claims lacking factual evidence.
Trump was also criticized for resurrecting the Monroe Doctrine to justify Maduro’s arrest and claim sovereignty over the entire Western Hemisphere. Following Maduro’s arrest, Trump has made implied threats of military action against Colombia, Mexico, and Greenland. He even claimed that Cuba’s regime will eventually collapse.
Acknowledging the mixed opinions over Maduro’s arrest, Hudson County DSA organizer and co-chair Isaac Jiménez said now is not the time to celebrate, as the U.S. has “abducted” the leader of a foreign country.
“It’s definitely a moment where people in Venezuela see the U.S. coming down on them,” Jiménez said in an interview. “And it’s a real shell shock moment for people in Venezuela and for what Maduro and the party have said all along, which is that, ‘the Yankee boot is coming, and the United States wants our oil, and it’s a real threat.’”