The youth branch of Your Party Cambridge has staged a protest outside the Guildhall, criticising the US capture of Venezuelan President Maduro, as well as the UK government’s response to the country’s military action.

At around 1pm on Sunday (18/01), a small crowd of about 15 protesters gathered outside the Guildhall and unfurled Venezuelan and Palestinian flags, beginning a chant of “no more coups, no more wars, Venezuela’s not yours”.

Some began handing out flyers promoting a sit-in organised by Cambridge for Palestine to students. One protester told Varsity that they sought to send a clear message to the University regarding arms divestment, before the University Council hold a vote on the issue next month.

The crowd grew over the course of the protest to around 30 people. The protesters were mostly young people, some of whom identified themselves as students at the University.

The crowd heard from several speakers throughout. The first began by stating that “what America did in capturing Maduro was illegal,” and that the US’ subsequent action in Venezuela has been “overkill”. They went on to say that the rally was against “imperialist intervention,” claiming that “our government is not listening to us, just as the American government is not listening to the people of Venezuela”.

On 3 January this year, the US launched a military operation in Venezuela that culminated in the capture of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, alongside the first lady, and both later being charged with narcoterrorism offences. The UK government has responded cautiously, with Keir Starmer describing Maduro as “an illegitimate president” while emphasising his “support for international law”.

The various speakers were also heavily critical of Reform UK. One stated that “Reform has shown their willingness to bend to the will of Big Oil and Israeli lobbyists,” while another claimed that, in 2024: “over 90% of Reform’s donations were from oil companies”. They implored onlookers not to vote for Reform on this basis, declaring the right and the far-right “the antithesis of liberation”.

The protest was interrupted multiple times by members of the public. Shortly after the chants began, one woman heckled the protesters and held her middle finger up.

A few minutes later, a small group broke through the crowd and approached several protesters directly. One man shouted that he had family members in Venezuela who had been “murdered by the Maduro regime,” calling the protesters “stupid” for protesting against America’s removal of the president. He continued: “Maduro is a dictator, do not support Maduro,” telling those gathered to “talk to Venezuelans” about the issue rather than protesting against it.

One protester attempted to respond, affirming that “we are against Maduro, we are protesting against Donald Trump”. They told the group that they were concerned that America would bring in oil companies to “extract from Venezuela”.

A later speaker referenced the interruption, clarifying that the protesters were not “endorsing Maduro,” but rather bringing attention to the illegal actions of “the Trump administration”. They added that they were “glad to hear the people in Venezuela are no longer suffering, but we wonder how people will be treated in Greenland, in Cuba,” expressing concerns that President Trump may attempt to “invade Greenland”. They were also critical of the UK political response, saying that all the main parties were supportive of the US’ military action.

The protest began to disperse after around 40 minutes. In their closing remarks, the speakers called on those gathered to contact their local MPs to condemn the government’s “ongoing complicity in imperialist intervention.”

Reform UK was contacted for comment.