Protestors in downtown St. Petersburg chanting “The people united will never be defeated.” Photo by Leah Burdick
Over 40 demonstrators marched through downtown St. Petersburg to protest U.S. involvement in Venezuela and the recent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, calling the actions a violation of international law.
Demonstrators were calling for the removal of military assets from the Caribbean.
Karla Correa is the co-chair of the Pinellas Democratic Socialists of America and she said the U.S. should have no say on who Venezuela determine as their president.
“The U.S. is always trying to be like the world police and take control of other countries’ resources. In Venezuela’s case thats their oil because Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world,” Correa said.
Correa said Maduro should be released and returned to Venezuela and is concerned that removing resources from the country could lead to a big war.
“We’re here to say, no war with Venezuela, free Maduro. We don’t wanna see our tax dollars being used to militarize the Caribbean and to Kill people in Venezuela, kill people in the Caribbean. We wanna see our tax dollars being used to actually fund things that we need like health care, education and housing,” Correa said.
Demonstrator is pulling a sign on a wagon about how the working class needs to come together. Photo by Leah Burdick
Speaker Thomas Gross, one of the main organizers of the demonstration. Photo by Leah Burdick
Demonstrators listening to speakers before marching. Photo by Leah Burdick
Demonstrators marching through downtown St. Petersburg grabbing the attention of pedestrians. Photo by Leah Burdick
Demonstrators chanting on the sidewalk. Photo by Leah Burdick
Demonstrators crossing the street holding their signs high in the air. Photo by Leah Burdick
No war with Venezuela sign. Photo by Leah Burdick
Sings about Trump being a war criminal and U.S. out of Latin America. Photo by Leah Burdick
Demonstrators stop in downtown to chant “The people united will never be divided.” Photo by Leah Burdick
Demonstrators marching. Photo by Leah Burdick
Speakers at the protest argued that U.S. actions are motivated by resource control and do not benefit Venezuelans.
Demonstrator Manny Ramirez is the co-chair of the Tampa Democratic Socialists of America.
“I do have some family still in Cuba and right now, with this invasion of Venezuela, the capturing of the oil tankers, and just more broadly the sanctions that the U.S. imposes on Venezuela and Cuba. These inflict a lot of deep hardships on the people of Venezuela and Cuba.
Ramirez said by blocking the oil to Cuba its going to cause more hardships for the people. He said instead of trying to write a foreign policy to help people and collaborate, the U.S. has chose violence.
“I think similar to the invasion of Iraq, more and more people are going to realize that this war is about oil, its about dominance, its not about freedom, it’s not about democracy, and thats gonna be only more apparent,” Ramirez said.
After listening to multiple speakers, demonstrators began marching downtown while chanting “Hands off Venezuela” and “The people united will never be defeated.”