Around 100 people gathered in downtown Raleigh to protest the Trump administration's takeover of Venezuela, Jan. 3, 2026. (Photo by Laura Leslie/NC Newsline)
Sign opposing the Trump administration’s takeover of Venezuela, Jan. 3, 2026. (Photo by Laura Leslie/NC Newsline)Nearly a hundred people came together in downtown Raleigh Saturday to voice their opposition to the Trump administration’s removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and apparent subsequent takeover of the South American country.
The “emergency protest,” organized by Code Pink, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and several Democratic groups, took place in Moore Square Saturday afternoon.
In an hour-long news conference earlier Saturday, President Donald Trump called Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and said Maduro and his wife would be tried on criminal charges in the U.S. justice system.
Trump said, “we’re gonna run the country” of Venezuela until a “judicious” transfer of power can be orchestrated. Trump also said U.S. oil companies would go into Venezuela to rebuild the country’s petroleum infrastructure, tap the nation’s vast oil reserves and sell the oil to other countries.
North Carolina Republicans took to social media and the airwaves to praise the president’s actions as a victory for law and order.
“President Trump’s bold actions have kept his promise to stop drug traffickers and save American lives,” said N.C. GOP spokesman Matt Mercer. “Capturing narcoterrorist Nicolas Maduro protects Americans and makes the world a safer place.”
But protesters Saturday afternoon said they think the U.S. takeover of Venezuela will destabilize governments throughout the region, and most said they think Venezuela’s oil was the primary aim of Trump’s action.
“Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the entire world,” Alex Trejo with the Party for Socialism and Liberation told NC Newsline. “The real aim of the U.S. intervening in Venezuela is for the oil and not for this ‘democratic process’ that they’re trying to disguise it as.”
Karen Still protests in Raleigh, Jan. 3, 2026. (Photo by Laura Leslie/NC Newsline)Trejo conceded that Maduro was not democratically elected, but said it violated international law for the U.S. to go in and remove him. “It’s the Venezuelan people’s right to go through that democratic process themselves,” he said.
Nikolai Kutsch with the N.C. State College Democrats said Trump’s actions contradict his 2024 campaign promises to avoid involving the U.S. in wars in other countries.
“We don’t go in and run another country, and certainly not without congressional approval. This is completely outside of his bounds of power,” Kutsch said. “It is a lie, and it is not going to end well, I think.”
Karen Still, a U.S. military veteran, held a sign likening Trump’s action in Venezuela to Russia’s attempt to take over Ukraine.
“What he is doing in Venezuela is equal to what Putin is doing. It’s aggression,” Still said. “There’s no good reason for it, and he’s putting America’s security and American lives and service members in jeopardy.”
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