Protest Against U.S. Action in Venezuela — News

On January 3, 2026, demonstrators gathered outside the Wallace Federal Building in Salt Lake City, Utah, to protest U.S. military action in Venezuela. The event formed part of a nationwide mobilization that unfolded in the immediate aftermath of a large‑scale U.S. operation targeting the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Protesters carried signs, flags, and hand‑made messages opposing foreign intervention and expressing solidarity with Venezuelans caught in the middle of the crisis. In the early hours of January 3, the United States launched a coordinated assault on Venezuela under the codename Operation Absolute Resolve, striking multiple targets around Caracas and other locations as U.S. special operations forces moved to detain Maduro and his inner circle. Reports describe a complex raid involving airstrikes, cyber operations that disrupted power in the capital, and helicopter‑borne units engaged in exchanges of fire with Venezuelan defenses before Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken into U.S. custody.Aljazeera+1 President Donald Trump later praised the operation as a decisive demonstration of American military power, framing it as part of a broader effort to reshape relations with Venezuela and reclaim control over oil resources he said had been “stolen.” The speed and scale of the attack drew immediate international reaction. Regional bodies such as CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) and ALBA convened emergency discussions and issued statements condemning or scrutinizing the operation, while some governments aligned more closely with Washington’s justification. As images of Maduro in U.S. custody circulated globally, debates intensified over sovereignty, the legality of cross‑border intervention, and the long‑term consequences for Latin America’s political landscape. These photographs from Salt Lake City document how those developments registered at street level in the United States — through hand‑lettered comparisons of historical and contemporary leaders, anti‑war slogans, and declarations that “this is what democracy looks like.” The frames follow individual participants, small groups, and wider scenes outside the Wallace Federal Building, capturing a moment when global headlines about Venezuela, Maduro, Trump, and U.S. power were translated into local civic expression in the American West. (Credit Images: © Charles‑McClintock Wilson/ZUMA Press Wire)