Large crowds gathered outside U.S. diplomatic institutions in multiple cities across Brazil on Monday to protest against the U.S. attacks on neighboring Venezuela and the forcible seizure of the country's president Nicolas Maduro.
The demonstrations came after U.S. military forces carried out a series of attacks and bombings in Caracas and other parts of Venezuela in the early hours of Saturday and captured Maduro and his wife, before putting them in custody in New York.
The move has shocked the international community and sparked serious concerns worldwide, while U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that his administration would now 'run' Venezuela and even did not rule out launching a second round of military operations on an even larger scale.
In Brazil's capital Brasilia, the U.S. Embassy on Monday issued a security alert warning U.S. citizens in the country of the planned protests outside the embassy and at various other consulates, advising them to avoid demonstration areas and to "exercise caution" in the vicinity.
At the entrance to the U.S. Consulate General in Sao Paulo, more than 2,000 protesters headed out in support of Venezuela, with many holding aloft placards while calling for national sovereignty to be respected and voicing their opposition to any external intervention.
"We firmly oppose the U.S. interference, as it has committed the crime of trampling on all norms of international law and even failing to abide by its own constitution by kidnapping Maduro, the legitimate president of Venezuela," said Nivaldo Santana, a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Brazil.
"The development path of Venezuela must be determined by the Venezuelan people themselves. It should be the Venezuelan people who control the destiny of the country and determine its future, instead of being dictated to by the President of the United States," said Anna Perez, a member of Frente Povo Sem Medo, a political organization in Brazil.
In Rio de Janeiro, protesters said the U.S. move has not only exacerbated tensions in Venezuela, but has sparked wider indignation across Latin America over a gross infringement of sovereignty, security and resources by external forces.
"All of Latin America needs to unite to defend the interests of its people, maintain independence, oppose exploitation by other countries, and oppose the dictatorship imposed on us, especially the improper exploitation from the United States," said Natalya Baretto, a local resident in Rio.
"What is happening in our country now is completely unacceptable. It is an infringement upon our territory," said Millie Jan, a Venezuelan living in Brazil.
Many others pointed to the possibility of ulterior motives at play in the Trump administration's shock move to oust Maduro.
"In our view, this situation is clearly centered around oil, while the tentacles of imperialism are also reaching into Brazil. For this reason, we stand together with the goal of driving the imperialist forces out of Latin America, whether from the United States or from any other country. We are not anyone's 'backyard,'" said Edoardo Henryk, a staff member with Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras.
Crowds of protesters gather across Brazil to condemn US attacks on Venezuela
