Protesters rallied outside the United States federal building in the banking district of Hato Rey to repudiate President Donald J. Trump’s criminal policy against Venezuela, which he threatens with military intervention under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking.

“We repudiate the use of our nation to lead an invasion of a sovereign country,” said the protesters, who waved flags of several groups, as well as those of Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Esteli Capote condemned, on behalf of the Cuba Solidarity Committee in Puerto Rico, the rise in military practices on this Caribbean island under the complicit gaze of the colonial administration, something not seen since the US Navy’s withdrawal from Vieques in 2003.

Capote noted, “This does not mean that the military use of our nation, illegally occupied since 1898, has ceased since 2003, as the Puerto Rican National Guard was deployed in invasions of several nations around the world as part of the US imperial agenda.”

The militarization of Puerto Rico by the United States began the moment the US invaded it in 1898, during the Spanish-Cuban War.

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