On Saturday, about 400 protesters from across the Bay Area gathered in downtown San Francisco to protest President Donald Trump’s bombing of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and his capture of Venezuela’s president Nicholás Maduro.
“Stop bombing Venezuela!” they chanted while marching from Powell and Market streets to the statue of Simón Bolívar in Civic Center Plaza. “No more coups, no more wars, Latin America isn’t yours!”
Sully Atheirne rallies the crowd before speeches at a Jan. 3 protest about the U.S. bombing of Venezuela and capture of the country’s president. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
In the past few months, the Trump administration has ramped up pressure on Venezuela, gathering naval forces off the coast and bombing boats that it alleged, without evidence, had drug smugglers onboard. At least 115 people were killed in the strikes.
Last night’s strike appeared to target military infrastructure. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured during the strike and brought to New York, where they now face charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and weapons charges.
The New York Times, quoting an anonymous Venezuelan official, reported that about 40 people were killed in the military action, including an 80-year-old woman.
Three protesters hold signs opposing America’s bombing of Venezuela and capture of its president on Jan 3, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
Protesters lambasted the bombing. “Is it not too much to just fund people’s needs instead of endless wars abroad?” one organizer said in between chants of “We got billions for war, but can’t feed the poor” and “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation.”
“We saw them destroy the very fundamental rights that all Latin American countries and all countries of the world share,” Omar Khoury, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said about the American attacks, listing out the right to independence and sovereignty. The secretary-general of the United Nations called the strikes “deeply worrying,” and international-law experts have said they are illegal.
Attendees hold signs at a Jan. 3, 2026 protest about the U.S.’s bombing of Venezuela and capture of its President Nicholás Maduro. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
During a press conference, Trump said that the United States is “going to run” Venezuela for the time being, claiming that he has installed Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as a puppet.
“She is essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.
Rodríguez, however, was on Venezuelan television at the same time demanding that the United States free Maduro. “What is being done to Venezuela is a barbarity,” she reportedly said.
The rally in San Francisco was one of dozens that saw thousands take to the streets in U.S. cities and others across the globe. Protesters in San Francisco condemned the administration’s action as “neo-colonialism,” pointing to Trump’s remarks at a press conference today about Venezuelan oil.
The president said “we’ll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries” and that unnamed oil companies would “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure. “We’re in the oil business.”
UESF vice-President Frank Lara speaks at a rally about U.S. bombings of Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
Speakers at the protest defended Maduro’s record in Venezuela, who has ruled Venezuela since Hugo Chavez’s death in 2013. He has been accused of jailing and persecuting political opponents and protesters and falsifying election results. Under his rule — and American sanctions — the country has faced an economic collapse, with the majority residents of the country now living in poverty.
“I had the privilege of having met Nicolás Maduro when he was a union activist many years ago. And he’s like us, he’s a fighter only he has a much greater role of staying up for his people, standing up for Latin America, standing up for us,” Gloria La Riva said.
Gloria La Riva speaks at a rally about the capture of Venezuela President Nicholás Maduro on Jan. 3, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman.
“Let’s not try and claim, well, there’s problems with that system, there’s problems with that leader,” said Frank Lara, the vice-president of the public school teacher’s union UESF. “Let’s not claim that anyone in this country can justify a coup, a kidnapping, a bombing in any other country.”
Not everyone in the crowd agreed with that sentiment.
“Venezuela has been in serious trouble for a long time,” a 20-year-old Venezuelan woman shouted from the crowd as a speaker said, “We’ve got to build a movement that’s going to work, because if we don’t, Venezuela is in some serious trouble.”
“It’s not the U.S. causing all the issues now,” she said in an interview after the rally. “Of course they want the oil. This is not about altruism and helping us. But at least they are taking out of the country the head of the source of a pain that we have.”
She said her family in Venezuela’s reaction to the bombings was not entirely negative. “Yeah, of course we are scared about the explosions, but they are also happy. They are like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna be freed in some way,’” she said.
Caroline Dutton holds a sign saying “Viva Venezuela” with a heart for Maduro at a Jan. 3, 2026 protest about the Venezuelan president’s capture by America. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
She went to the rally today after hearing about it, hoping to see other Venezuelan people, but relatively few were there and none spoke at the rally. “I was like, I want to see my people and hug them, and I want to tell them everything is going to be okay,” she said. “Then I encounter these people that are a little fed with lies also.”
Still, the rally ended with a call to action and the crowd chanting along energetically. “Money for war, can’t feed the poor? We’re fired up can’t take it no more!”
“Hands off Venezuela,” an organizer promised. “We’ll see you in the streets again.”
Sharon Minsuk holds a sign saying “Trump war criminal arrest him now!” at a protest of the U.S.’s bombing of Venezuela on Jan. 3 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
Julie Newbold holds a sign saying “Congress do your job, only Congress can declare war” at a protest of the U.S.’s bombing of Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman
A protester marches down Market Street carrying a sign that says “The people want peace — not war on Venezuela” on Jan. 3, 2026. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman