NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2019) Dozens of supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gathered on Saturday in the US city of New York to call on Washington to stop triggering a regime change in the country, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene.
"Maduro, friend, we, the people, are with you," the protesters shouted in Manhattan and carried signs reading "hands off Venezuela" and "Yankee, go home," and demanding to end colonization of the South American country, as well as to halt the economic sanctions imposed by the United States.
Emergency rallies to defend Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution were organized by Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee and took place in other US cities, including Washington, D.C., San Jose, Miami, Dallas, Pittsburg, and Minneapolis.
Around 40 protesters met by the George Washington sculpture in the Union Square Park, which symbolizes the nation's victory over the British colonization of the Americas.
The protesters expressed their concern over the possible military intervention by the United States and the attempt to change the regime in Venezuela.
"The United States is one of the strongest militaries in the world, and they have gotten so strong because they were able to steal resources from other countries," a student activist who took part in the organization of the rally told Sputnik.
The activist added that he was "nervous" about the possibility of Washington's intervention in Venezuela, voicing hope that it would not be in place.
"I think it is just another example; it is so typical of the United States to try to cause a regime change that it sees as just the extension of its own," the protester went on to say.
Another protester criticized US President Donald Trump's attempts to intervene in the internal matters of Venezuela.
"He [Trump] is always making the assumption that Russia is always meddling the US elections, but he himself is meddling in the affairs of other countries," an activist, who was holding a Colombian flag to demonstrate the support of his native country for the Maduro's government, said.
On Tuesday, the situation in Venezuela escalated when the opposition-controlled National Assembly declared that Maduro had usurped power. National Assembly Speaker Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president the following day.
Maduro called the opposition leader a US "puppet" and accused the United States of organizing a coup in Venezuela. Maduro also decided to sever diplomatic relations with the United States and asked US diplomats to leave Venezuela within 72 hours.
Some countries, including Brazil, Canada, and the United States, immediately recognized Guaido's interim presidency. Other states, such as Russia and Mexico, voiced their support for Maduro as the country's legitimate president.
