Watsonville residents take to the streets to criticize Trump administration’s attack on Venezuela 

Nearly 40 Watsonville residents took to the streets Saturday afternoon to protest the Trump administration conducting a military attack on Venezuela that led to the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. 

The U.S. military conducted large-scale air strikes in Caracas, the country’s capitol, early Saturday morning, and later captured Maduro and his wife, following months of the Trump administration conducting deadly attacks on alleged drug-carrying boats and the seizure of two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil. 

President Trump said the United States will temporarily run Venezuela, until a proper transition of power can be arranged and would also tap into the country’s vast oil reserves to sell to other countries. Maduro and his wife are being transferred to New York to face criminal charges related to alleged drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies, according to the unsealed indictment shared by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. 

Watsonville resident Nancy Faulstich told Lookout that the Trump administration’s actions Saturday morning are “outrageous. “Continuing a military action against Venezuela and kidnapping the president of a country no matter how much we don’t like that president is not the way to proceed,” Faulstich said. 

Olivia Millard, with Indivisible Pajaro Valley who organized the last-minute protest, called the Trump administration’s actions “an act of war with no congressional authorization.” She added that it’s unconstitutional because only Congress has the power to declare war. 

Rep. Jimmy Panetta criticized Trump on social media saying he “did not present any credible evidence that Maduro was an imminent threat to justify a large-scale military intervention by the United States.” Panetta added that today’s events “do nothing” to make the United States safer nor address concerns, like healthcare and reducing the costs of housing and food.