Mexico City Mass March for Venezuela, Maduro & Flores

ByJay Watts

Photos by Jay Watts

Approximately 10,000 people took to the streets of Mexico’s capital city on Saturday to express solidarity with the Venezuelan people, and demand the release of President Nicolas Maduro and First Combatant Celia Flores, who were kidnapped by the American government in the early morning of January 3rd.

The march, which began at Mexico City’s Angel of Independence and ended at the Plaza de Palestina Libre, was only called less than a week ago, but took on even more urgency for participants after Donald Trump insinuated in a Fox News interview Thursday that he would soon be attacking Mexico, under the guise of attacking “cartels.”

Trade unions, left wing political parties, collectives, and social organizations easily filled Paseo de Reforma, while speakers at the endpoint emphasized the importance of a more proactive stance from the Mexican government as well as continent-wide unity against US imperialism, its aggressions and local assets. US imperialism has entered a deeper and more aggressive phase on the continent, coinciding with the release of last year’s National Security Strategy, which identifies the Western Hemisphere as a US “sphere of influence.”