On Tuesday, January 6, 2026, a woman interrupted an extraordinary session of the Organization of American States (OAS) and accused the United States. The protester, a member of the left-wing feminist organization CodePink, held up a sign reading "Hands Off Venezuela!" just as the U.S. ambassador to the OAS, Leandro Rizzuto, was responding to interventions from countries like Colombia and Chile that reject Washington's military actions as a "unilateral" act that violates international law. The woman shouted that the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on January 3 was not an act for democracy but "an imperialist robbery motivated by oil." Due to the interruption, the president of the OAS Permanent Council, Colombian Luis Vargas, suspended the session for five minutes until security agents removed the woman from the premises. Rizzuto reacted by saying, "It's normal, there are a lot of emotions in the air," referring to the intervention. During the session, representatives from Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico classified the capture of Maduro as a "dangerous" international interference for the region's stability and sovereignty. Meanwhile, in a speech to Republican politicians on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed criticism of his actions in Venezuela, stating that most "are paid." Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, around 30 billion barrels, equivalent to nearly a fifth of global reserves, according to estimates from international energy agencies. Trump has said that U.S. oil companies would help repair the infrastructure of that sector in Venezuela, which the president described as being in "very bad condition."
