{"id":56475,"date":"2026-01-03T17:03:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=56475"},"modified":"2026-01-03T17:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:04:09","slug":"venezuelan-international-popular-movements-condemn-us-bombings-maduro-kidnapping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=56475","title":{"rendered":"Venezuelan, International Popular Movements Condemn US Bombings, Maduro Kidnapping"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump claimed that his administration will “run Venezuela” with the acquiescence from Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez.<\/BIG><\/p>\n

\"Crowds<\/a>
Crowds gathered in Caracas in defense of the Bolivarian Process. (Rome Arrieche)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Ricardo Vaz
\nJanuary 3, 2026 – venezuelanalysis.com<\/A><\/I><\/p>\n

Caracas, January 3, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) \u2013 Venezuelan popular movements and international solidarity organizations have taken to the streets to condemn a US military attack against the country and the kidnapping of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.
\n
\nFollowing the bombings and special operations raid in the early hours of January 3, pro-government collectives began to concentrate in Caracas near Miraflores Presidential Palace. Demonstrations were likewise registered in many other Venezuelan cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong live a free and revolutionary Venezuela,\u201d grassroots leader Mariela Machado told press in the Caracas demonstration. \u201cInternational institutions must stop being accomplices and take a stance because our people are being massacred.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went on to state that \u201cthe US government is not the world\u2019s police\u201d and demanded the safe return of the Venezuelan President.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino L\u00f3pez published statements in the early morning hours, urging the international community to take a stance against the US actions and calling for popular mobilization.<\/p>\n

International solidarity organizations also set up emergency rallies in dozens of cities, including London, New York and several Latin American capitals.<\/p>\n

US forces began the attack at 2 am local time with missiles fired against a number of Venezuela military installations in the capital and surrounding areas. Social media users broadcast fires and large columns of smoke emerging from Fuerte Tiuna, the main military installation in Caracas.<\/p>\n

The port in La Guaira, an airbase in Higuerote, Miranda State, and a radar facility in El Hatillo, Eastern Caracas, were among the targets reportedly struck. Venezuelan authorities have not disclosed information concerning damages and casualties.<\/p>\n

A few hours after the first bombings, US President Donald Trump announced that a special operations raid had kidnapped Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores and that the two were \u201cflown out of the country.\u201d The pair was reportedly taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima warship.<\/p>\n

US Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that Maduro and Flores were indicted in a New York District Court on charges including \u201cnarco-terrorism conspiracy.\u201d In recent years, US officials have repeatedly accused Maduro and other Venezuelan high-ranking officials of \u201cflooding\u201d the US with drugs. However, they have not presented any court-tested evidence, while UN and DEA reports have shown Venezuela to be a marginal player in global drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

In a Saturday press conference, Trump stated that the US will \u201crun\u201d Venezuela until there are conditions for a \u201csafe, proper and judicious transition.\u201d He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials will be charged with \u201crunning the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US president reiterated claims to Venezuelan oil resources and threatened that Venezuela would have to \u201creimburse\u201d the US for oil nationalizations and damages from alleged drug trafficking. Trump went on to say that Rubio had held talks with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, alleging that she had been sworn in and had vowed to accept US dictates.<\/p>\n

Trump dismissed the idea of Mar\u00eda Corina Machado taking power in the South American nation, affirming that the far-right leader lacks on-the-ground support. <\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s military attack and special operations raid followed months of buildup and escalating regime-change threats against Caracas. US forces have amassed the largest military deployment in decades in the Caribbean Sea while also conducting dozens of bombings against small boats accused of narcotics trafficking.<\/p>\n

The military operation drew widespread international condemnation from Latin America and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US bombings and Maduro\u2019s capture are unacceptable,\u201d Brazilian President Lula da Silva wrote on social media. \u201cThese actions are an affront to Venezuelan sovereignty and set an extremely dangerous precedent for the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colombian, Mexican and Cuban leaders were among those to strongly reject US actions and demand respect for international law.<\/p>\n

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly held a phone conversation with Vice President Rodr\u00edguez, reiterating Moscow\u2019s support for the Venezuelan government and a call for dialogue.<\/p>\n

For its part, the Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement \u201cfiercely condemning the use of force against a sovereign nation.\u201d Beijing urged Washington to cease its violations of international law and respect other countries\u2019 sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yv\u00e1n Gil held multiple phone conversations with counterparts from different countries who expressed their condemnation of the US attacks as violations of international law.<\/p>\n

Caracas has likewise requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Two prior meetings called by Venezuela saw China, Russia and other countries criticize the US\u2019 military actions but ultimately no resolutions were put forward.<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/venezuelanalysis.com\/news\/venezuelan-international-popular-movements-condemn-us-bombings-maduro-kidnapping\/<\/A><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump claimed that his administration will “run Venezuela” with the acquiescence from Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez. By Ricardo Vaz January 3, 2026 – venezuelanalysis.com Caracas, January 3, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) \u2013 Venezuelan popular movements and international solidarity organizations have taken to the streets to condemn a US military attack against the country and the kidnapping … Continue reading Venezuelan, International Popular Movements Condemn US Bombings, Maduro Kidnapping<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,39,109],"tags":[1142,978,42],"class_list":["post-56475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-tt","category-usa","category-venezuela","tag-donald-trump","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56475"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56479,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56475\/revisions\/56479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}