Castries became part of an international wave of dissent on Tuesday as citizens gathered to denounce recent US military actions in Venezuela and demand the repatriation of detained President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. The emotionally charged demonstration, organized collaboratively by the Venezuelan Embassy in Saint Lucia and the Saint Lucia Solidarity Movement with Venezuela, commemorated the one-month anniversary of the controversial January 3rd operation.
Protesters brandished poignant “Bring Them Back” placards while vocally rejecting military aggression against sovereign nations. The gathering simultaneously functioned as a memorial honoring Venezuelan citizens who perished defending their nation’s territorial integrity against what organizers characterized as a “vile, illegal and disproportionate” assault.
This event in Saint Lucia’s capital represented one node in a sprawling network of over 100 coordinated international demonstrations occurring simultaneously across global cities. The widespread protests served to reinforce mounting opposition to the military intervention authorized by US President Donald Trump, which involved precision strikes across northern Venezuelan territory and resulted in the capture and transfer of the Venezuelan leadership to American custody.
The military operation and subsequent detainment have ignited intense diplomatic discourse worldwide, with many nations questioning the legal foundations and geopolitical implications of cross-border military actions against elected leadership. The Castries demonstration highlighted growing concerns about sovereignty violations and the normalization of military interventions in regional conflicts.