South Africans protest, demand US release of Venezuela's Maduro and Cilia

Activists, trade unionists and political groups gathered outside the United States Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, calling for the immediate release of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, days after the couple were forcibly seized during US military operation in Venezuela.

The demonstration brought together a broad coalition of trade unions, left-wing political parties, solidarity movements and ordinary citizens, many of whom accused the US of violating Venezuela’s sovereignty and international law. Protesters waved placards and chanted slogans denouncing what they described as US aggression against the South American nation.

South Africa's government has echoed those concerns. Over the weekend, Pretoria moved swiftly to engage the United Nations, arguing that the US operation amounted to a breach of Venezuela’s sovereignty and calling for urgent international intervention.

The South African Communist Party and allied organizations also voiced strong support for that position. 

"Our solidarity with the people of Venezuela is very important," said Solly Mapaila the party's secretary general. "We stand here to demand the unconditional release of President Nicolas Maduro and comrade Cilia Flores, his spouse, for these trumped-up charges and being indicted in the US jails."

Other groups framed the protest as a warning to Washington. 

"We are here in the main and in the first instance to send a very clear message to the United States," said Muhammed Desai, a spokesperson for the South Africa Latin America Association. "There is a red line and that red line has been crossed. We are here to stand shoulder to shoulder with our people in Venezuela who have been coming out in hundreds of thousands, demanding the release of their president."

Some demonstrators went further, issuing a list of demands that included the withdrawal of US forces and action by the United Nations Security Council. 

"We are here to demand the immediate release of the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and his wife from the illegal prisons of the US," said Ali Komape, a spokesperson for Africa for Palestine. "Our second demand is that all US forces and proxy forces in Venezuela must be withdrawn. Our third demand is that the United Nations Security Council must intervene immediately when these demands are not met."

While protests continued, South African authorities confirmed that all South African nationals in Venezuela were safe.

Edited by CGTN Africa reporter Marion Gachuhi