Two separate protests unfolded in downtown Richmond Saturday afternoon, as local activist groups responded to reports of U.S. military action in Caracas and the detention of Venezuela president Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
One gathering took place at Maggie Walker Memorial Plaza, where members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation Virginia joined with other local organizers as part of a coordinated national day of action. A second rally was held nearby at the federal courthouse on East Broad Street, organized by Virginia Defenders.
Both protests centered on opposition to U.S. military intervention, concerns over civilian harm, and long-standing skepticism toward American foreign policy in Latin America.
David Robbins, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said the news came as a shock. “It really surprised me,” Robbins said. “There’s been a lot of rhetoric around it, but to actually see them not only go in and attack Venezuela but also to kidnap their leader, it’s wild to me.”
Robbins said the Richmond protest was organized rapidly after national organizers called for demonstrations across the country. According to him, local groups coordinated outreach through internal networks and social media within hours of the news breaking.
“The goal for today’s rally is really to educate, to let people know what’s going on, to fight the propaganda that’s in the mainstream media about Venezuela,” Robbins said. He also criticized the lack of congressional authorization for military action, calling the situation dangerous for both civilians abroad and U.S. service members.
At the federal courthouse rally, Virginia Defenders emphasized the broader historical context of U.S. involvement in Latin America. Fernanda Diaz-Castro, a member of the group’s steering committee and head of its immigration support committee, addressed the crowd with emotional remarks.
“When I heard about what happened last night, I was moved to tears,” Diaz-Castro said. “My heart is broken just sitting with the history of Latin America, the history of my people, knowing that once again it’s going to be our land that is impacted and hurt.”
Diaz-Castro urged attendees to view Venezuela not in isolation, but as part of a broader regional pattern. She referenced Puerto Rico, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America while warning that escalating intervention would have long-term consequences beyond any single country.
As protests unfolded in Richmond, concerns were also being raised by Virginia’s U.S. senators. In a statement released Saturday,
Mark Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, warned that the use of military force without congressional approval posed serious constitutional and global risks.
“Our Constitution places the gravest decisions about the use of military force in the hands of Congress for a reason,” Warner said, arguing that regime change through military action “demands the closest scrutiny.” He warned that asserting the right to capture foreign leaders by force could set a precedent exploited by authoritarian governments elsewhere.
Warner also acknowledged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s record, calling him “a corrupt authoritarian” who has repressed his people and overseen a humanitarian crisis. However, he said recognizing those crimes does not give any U.S. president the authority to bypass Congress or the Constitution.
Sen. Tim Kaine, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a separate statement condemning the action as a return to failed U.S. foreign policy doctrine.
“President Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro, however terrible he is, is a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere,” Kaine said. He warned that such actions undermine U.S. claims to sovereignty and invite similar behavior from other nations.
Kaine questioned where such unchecked authority could lead, referencing past threats to deploy U.S. forces in multiple international and domestic contexts without congressional approval. “It is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy and trade,” Kaine said.
He added that a bipartisan resolution stating the United States should not be at war with Venezuela without explicit congressional authorization is expected to come up for a vote next week.
Both Richmond demonstrations remained peaceful, with participants holding signs, chanting, and engaging passersby in conversation. Organizers from both events said additional actions could follow depending on developments in the coming days.
For many attendees, the protests were less about partisan alignment and more about drawing attention to decisions being made far from public view, but with consequences they believe will be widely felt.
Photos by R. Anthony Harris
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement:
“Our Constitution places the gravest decisions about the use of military force in the hands of Congress for a reason. Using military force to enact regime change demands the closest scrutiny, precisely because the consequences do not end with the initial strike.
“If the United States asserts the right to use military force to invade and capture foreign leaders it accuses of criminal conduct, what prevents China from claiming the same authority over Taiwan’s leadership? What stops Vladimir Putin from asserting similar justification to abduct Ukraine’s president? Once this line is crossed, the rules that restrain global chaos begin to collapse, and authoritarian regimes will be the first to exploit it.
“None of this absolves Maduro. He is a corrupt authoritarian who has repressed his people, stolen elections, imprisoned political opponents, and presided over a humanitarian catastrophe that has forced millions of Venezuelans to flee. The Venezuelan people deserve democratic leadership, and the United States and the international community should have done far more, years ago, to press for a peaceful transition after Maduro lost a vote of his own citizens. But recognizing Maduro’s crimes does not give any president the authority to ignore the Constitution.
“The hypocrisy underlying this decision is especially glaring. This same president recently pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in a U.S. court on serious drug trafficking charges, including conspiring with narcotics traffickers while in office. Yet now, the administration claims that similar allegations justify the use of military force against another sovereign nation. You cannot credibly argue that drug trafficking charges demand invasion in one case, while issuing a pardon in another.
“America’s strength comes from our commitment to the rule of law, democratic norms, and constitutional restraint. When we abandon those principles, even in the name of confronting bad actors, we weaken our credibility, endanger global stability, and invite abuses of power that will long outlast any single presidency.”
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement:
“President Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro—however terrible he is—is a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere. That history is replete with failures, and doubling down on it makes it difficult to make the claim with a straight face that other countries should respect the United States’ sovereignty when we do not do the same.
“Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies? Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk.
“It is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy and trade. My bipartisan resolution stipulating that we should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization will come up for a vote next week. We’ve entered the 250th year of American democracy and cannot allow it to devolve into the tyranny that our founders fought to escape.”
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