Tampa Bay’s Students for a Democratic Society protesting U.S. involvement in Venezuela. Photo by Leah Burdick
Emotions were high as 12 demonstrators stood on the corner of 42nd Street and Fletcher Ave protesting the Trump Administration. Tampa Bay’s Students for a Democratic Society was protesting the U.S. involvement with Venezuela.
They were holding signs about lifting U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and having no war. Some of their chants were “From Venezuela to the Philippines, end the U.S. war machine.”
“The US has no rights to impose itself on foreign affairs at the cost of civilian lives. The fact is the longer the US occupies foreign water it becomes clear they aren’t there to just stop drug trafficking,” said Allie Enriquez is a member of Students for a Democratic Society.
She said theres been over 80 innocent people killed in the vessel attacks and using drugs as an excuse is wrong.
“The United Nations Office on Drug Crime does not even consider Venezuela to be one of the biggest players in international drug dealings,” Enriquez
She said the U.S. should be focusing on helping their own citizens instead of intimidating foreign governments.
“The U.S. quotes that Venezuela poses a transitional threat to the safety of America, but what has this administration done to help the drug crisis at home? They have cut benefits for those on medicare and medicaid. And making medication harder to obtain through price or through shortages,” Enriquez said.
Demonstrator, Dhanvi Patel is a member for Students for a Democratic Society
“The U.S. has actually tried to destabilize Venezuela before back in 2020 with a failed coup. So this isn’t anything new. It’s just a continuous attack on countries that have oil, which is not good for our environment either,” Patel said.
She said these attacks are illegal and a war crime that must be stopped.
While they were chanting, members of the organization were passing flyers out and some cars honked while passing by.