DiNucci said she hopes people continue to protest and that Congress moves to impeach Trump for his actions.
Eva Von Weltin, a 30-year-old South Philly resident who works in tech, said she attended the protest to fight “against this idea that U.S. intervention in Venezuela is … in the interest of Venezuelan people” or U.S. citizens.
“They want to get Exxon and other oil companies back into Venezuela to take their natural resources and … take anything from the people so that they can’t make their own destiny, or … govern themselves like they want,” she said. “They want another client state that they can just take whatever they want from.”
More than 100 people marched from Philadelphia City Hall to the U.S. Armed Forces recruitment center on Spring Garden Street on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2025, to protest the U.S. military attacks in Venezuela. (Emily Neil/WHYY)
Katie Miernicki, who attended the protest with the Philadelphia Party for Socialism and Liberation, said she and other activists had been monitoring the “war drive against Venezuela that’s been building up,” but said the Trump administration’s actions Saturday were “incredibly shocking.”
“Regardless of whatever accusations the U.S. government makes, I think it’s criminal and disgusting that our government is spending their time and money kidnapping presidents of other countries instead of taking care of people here at home,” she said. “And we know that this is a very unpopular thing, so we wanted to show our support with the Venezuelan people.”
Philadelphians protest U.S. military attacks in Venezuela at a march on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2025. (Emily Neil/WHYY)
Miernicki said she wants to see people come out and protest, despite the cold weather.
“I hope that we can continue to build a very strong anti war movement here and across the country, because it’s very clear that this is unpopular and there’s a lot more pressing causes that the money and time that they’re spending on this should go to, especially here in Philadelphia,” she said.
Xavier Stephenson, 24, a product manager in North Philadelphia, joined the protest after walking by and hearing noise. He said he was going to look for more information about the events.
“I barely even saw the news about it,” he said. “So I’m getting my news now … I didn’t know we, like, stole their president, so that’s not good, I would say.”