Austin protests erupt after U.S. forces capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

AUSTIN, Texas – Demonstrators gathered in front of Austin City Hall on Sunday to protest the U.S. bombing of Venezuela over the weekend and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. 

What we know:

Maduro and his wife were apprehended from their home, in Caracas, Venezuela, by U.S. Special Forces early on Saturday morning. The two were then flown to New York, where they’re currently being held on charges of narco-terrorism.

Protesters with the Party for Socialism and Liberation accused the Trump Administration of having a different agenda. 

What they’re saying:

“We know that Narco terrorism is not the reason that they’re doing this. We know that the liberation of Venezuela is not why they’re doing this,” said Scarleth Lopez, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “We know why they’re doing this. We know that it’s for oil. We know that it’s for land grab, for their resources.”

Big picture view:

Maduro has been in power in Venezuela since 2013, but more than 50 countries, including the U.S. have refused to recognize him as the nation’s leader following contested elections in 2018 and again in 2024. 

Since 2014, more than 7 million Venezuelans have fled the country, per data from the UN Refugee Agency, including Maria Ribers, who attempted to interrupt Sunday’s demonstration to share what she says is the reality of what’s happening in Venezuela. 

“This is just propaganda,” said Ribers. “They don’t know Venezuela. They don’t know (anything) about us. They don’t even just talk to me.”

Ribers attempted to hand out fact sheets about the situation in her country, citing high poverty rates, hospitals without supplies and citizens searching for food in the trash, as organizers attempted to remove her from the event. 

“This is our reality in Venezuela. We are suffering here,” said Ribers.

Dig deeper:

Ribers says she left Venezuela ten years ago because she faced persecution for speaking out against the regime, something she says several of her friends were jailed and tortured for. But now, for the first time in more than a decade, she says she has hope. 

“We have hope for Venezuela. Finally, (we) will be free,” said Ribers. “We need to say thank you because Trump (took) dictatorship from our country.”

Organizers with the Party for Socialism and Liberation say they oppose the actions taken by the Trump Administration over the weekend, calling them illegal. And while demonstrators say they stand with the people of Venezuela, some Venezuelan refugees here in the U.S. say Sunday’s protest showed the opposite.