Venezuelan Popular Movements Protest ‘Against Imperialism and Zionism’
Protesters burner US and Israeli flags. (Trias Frank)
Caracas, July 27, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Hundreds of Venezuelan activists took to the streets on Friday, July 24, to denounce the US and Israeli presence in the Caribbean nation.
The rally “against imperialism and Zionism” took place in Caracas’ Plaza Bolívar and was organized by the Anti-Imperialist Front, a newly-formed coalition of grassroots movements that reject Washington’s growing influence over Venezuelan affairs.
The demonstrators chose July 24, commemorating the 1783 birth of independence hero Simón Bolívar, to emphasize the importance of national independence and sovereignty.
“Popular movements from Caracas and Miranda State, armed with class conscience and anti-imperialism, are going to resist imperialism,” activist Miguel Mora told reporters. “No matter how powerful the US empire is in its technology, we will resist by any means necessary.”
Mora lamented that Venezuelans were “not allowed to fight” during the January 3 US military strikes and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro.
“Venezuelans are not cowards. We are going to fight and expel the invading gringo from our homeland!” he vowed.
Since the January incursion, the Acting Delcy Rodríguez government has fast-tracked diplomatic rapprochement with Washington. Rodríguez has pushed through multiple pro-business reforms that favor Western energy and mining corporations, while the Trump administration presently manages Caracas’ export revenues, particularly from oil sales, deposited in US-based Treasury Department accounts.
Following the June 24 double earthquake, the US military deployed hundreds of troops on the ground to run operations at the Simón Bolívar International Airport and La Guaira port. The Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced on Saturday that its team had departed Venezuela.
Organizer Orlando Vega urged Venezuelan authorities to “put their ear to the ground, because there is a lot of discontent among the Chavista bases.”
“We have to be very vigilant about the US and Zionist presence here,” he continued. “Trump and Netanyahu are war criminals. They cannot pretend to care about the Venezuelan people.”
Speakers roundly condemned the post-earthquake deployment of an Israeli military and diplomatic mission, while others present burned US and Israeli flags.
“We’re here to fight for the Palestinian people,” affirmed Hindu Anderi, coordinator of the International Platform in Solidarity with the Palestinian Cause. “For us, this [Israeli presence] is a setback.”
The Tel Aviv delegation featured multiple IDF officers, including Yossi Pinto and Roni Kaplan, who have taken part in military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon. Acting President Rodríguez met with the Israeli team on multiple occasions, praising its members as “highly trained and professional” and thanking them for their on-the-ground work.
Former President Hugo Chávez severed ties with Israel in 2009, firmly condemning the US ally for committing genocide and voicing solidarity with the Palestinian cause. His stance was maintained by Maduro, who publicly backed South Africa’s activation of the Genocide Convention against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024.
Anderi emphasized the urgency of defending longstanding ties with the Palestinian cause and stressed that “Venezuela is being occupied.” “In Venezuela there is an occupation project, a blatant plunder of our natural resources,” she said.
The July 24 rally followed on the heels of several public statements from Venezuelan grassroots organizations denouncing the rapprochement with Tel Aviv and broader geopolitical realignment with Washington.
The Coordinadora Simón Bolívar, a historic collective from the working-class barrio 23 de Enero, called the Israeli presence a “silent invasion” and blasted the Trump administration’s “supreme cynicism” in claiming to be a “friend” to Venezuela after imposing a punishing economic blockade and kidnapping Maduro.
For its part, grassroots media outlet Tatuy Tv stated that Tel Aviv is the “enemy of humanity” and rejected “normalization” of Israeli genocide. The organization likewise warned against a growing US military footprint in the South American country that could be used to “project its destructive hegemony in the whole continent.”
Edited by Lucas Koerner in Cali, Colombia.