The Secretary General of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, publicly demanded that the United States return President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, whom he described as kidnapped, while also denouncing serious crimes committed against the Venezuelan civilian population during the military aggression perpetrated on January 3.

During his speech at the National Women’s March in Caracas, Cabello stated that U.S. imperialism has violated international law and its own domestic laws, while murdering civilians who were asleep and had no connection to the military events. “They have committed a terrible crime,” he declared.

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At a key moment in his speech, the minister recounted an anecdote that elicited a loud ovation from the demonstrators. Cabello recalled that Cilia Flores stood up to the aggressors and declared that if they took President Maduro, they should take her too, a gesture he described as a demonstration of the courage, dignity, and bravery of Venezuelan women.

“That is what Venezuelan women are: courageous, dedicated, clear-headed, and willing to defend their people, their land, and their loved ones with their own lives,” Cabello stated, emphasizing that the Bolivarian Revolution is sustained by the leading role of the country’s women.

Denunciation of crimes and popular rejection

Cabello maintained that the United States is holding a prisoner of war on its territory, referring to President Maduro, who—he reminded everyone—was elected by the majority of the Venezuelan people as the constitutional president. In that context, he stressed that voices around the world are beginning to rise up, but that it is in Venezuela where the repudiation of imperialism is expressed most forcefully.

The minister warned that US military actions have generated a deep anti-American sentiment in the country, not only against a specific administration, but also as a historical rejection of aggression and the killing of innocent civilians.

“There are people who have never participated in politics and today are raising their voices against imperialism,” he noted, highlighting the breadth of social rejection.

Cabello was emphatic in responding to those who, he said, celebrate the president’s kidnapping, thinking that the Bolivarian Revolution will fall. “They don’t know this people,” he asserted. He recalled that Venezuela physically lost Commander Hugo Chávez, but that the revolution did not disappear, and he affirmed that in the case of Nicolás Maduro, the people do have the capacity to bring him back.

“They will have to return Nicolás and Cilia to us,” he reiterated, before a crowd that responded with chants and applause.

The mobilization, called by the mayor of Caracas, Carmen Meléndez, marched through the capital from Libertador Avenue to the Santa Capilla area on Urdaneta Avenue. Women from across the country took to the streets in defense of peace, sovereignty, and Venezuela’s self-determination, denouncing external aggression and demanding an end to U.S. intervention.

Among the most repeated chants was: “Maduro, hold on, the people are rising up,” echoed by thousands of demonstrators carrying flags, banners, and national symbols.

Cabello concluded his remarks by sending greetings to all Venezuelan women—workers, students, Indigenous women, grandmothers, motorcyclists, members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, police officers, militia members, and Christian women—and reaffirmed that the Bolivarian Revolution will continue its path of struggle and resistance.

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