BOSTON COMMON, MA – 2026 is off to an ignominious start. In the morning of January 3rd, Boston woke up to bizarre and disturbing news: the U.S. government had abducted the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in the night. Caracas had been bombed. In a symbolic act of vandalistic terrorism, the mausoleum and final resting place of Hugo Chavez had been blown up. The US military Southern Command had violated the most basic principles of state sovereignty – with no attempt at hiding imperial motive, unlike the Bush Administration in Iraq.

Less than twelve hours later, outraged protests erupted in every major city across the United States.

In Boston, at least 250 people turned out to hear speakers from the antiwar ANSWER Coalition and Boston Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), alongside Massachusetts Peace Action and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Considering the very short notice on a freezing Saturday afternoon, the turnout was spectacular.