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Dozens gathered in Mountain View Tuesday evening to protest the Trump administration and voice their opposition to the U.S. military attack on Venezuela that occurred over the weekend.
Organized by Mountain View Voices for Peace and Justice, a local activist group, the Jan. 6 demonstration drew more than 50 people to Gateway Park at the corner of El Camino Real and Castro Street.
Motorists honked their support during the rush hour commute as protesters held signs with slogans like “No War in Venezuela,” “No War for Oil” and “Blood for Oil? How’d That Go Last Time?”
On Saturday, Jan. 3, U.S. military forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, and whisked them to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges. Both pleaded not guilty at a court hearing on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Protesters in Mountain View described the Trump administration’s capture of Maduro as illegal under the U.S. Constitution and international law.
“The U.S. has been gradually escalating from attacking fishing boats to capturing tankers to now kidnapping the president of a sovereign country, and that’s what we’re united around,” said Lenny Siegel, a longtime community activist, former Mountain View mayor and founder of Mountain View Voices for Peace and Justice.
“We’re heading into rogue state territory,” said Sunnyvale resident Elizabeth Gloumousis, who added that it was important to keep protesting the actions of the Trump administration.
Mountain View resident Gail Nyhan said she was protesting for similar reasons. “People need to rise up and demand Trump be held accountable for his military actions,” she said.
Many denounced the U.S. military incursion as a power grab for oil, referring to comments made by President Donald Trump that he wants to extract oil from Venezuela to sell to other countries.
In opposition to these plans, several people held signs that read, “Say No to Fossil Fuel” and “Hands Off Venezuela.”
“So much is happening now, it’s easy to become desensitized,” said Mountain View resident Rachel Burstein, adding that the protest would remind passing drivers of what’s occurring.
Siegel described the demonstration as an opportunity for people to feel more connected and less alone.
“When you watch the news and you hear the lies from the administration and the changing justifications, it’s hard to take,” he said. “By bringing people together in a community, we help overcome that despondency.”
The Venezuelans and Colombians I’ve talked to about this are all uniformly pleased that Maduro was removed from power. One of them shared this post with me:
https://x.com/i/status/2008484998232285460
Whether the US action was legal, or good for Americans, etc, remains to be seen
I’m so glad Lenny Siegel and Mountain View Voices for Peace and Justice finally found a violation of international law they can oppose. The past few years must have been difficult, witnessing so many heinous war crimes that unfortunately fell outside the narrow parameters of their moral concern.