PHOTOS: Hours after U.S. captures Nicolás Maduro, Veterans for Peace and other groups organize protests.

Trini Ramos of Monterey has been protesting against political decisions for years now, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022. She's continued during President Donald Trump's second term, and the former member of the Army Reserves joined the local chapter of Veterans for Peace.

So when she woke up on Saturday morning, Jan. 3, to the news that the United States had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and planned to run the country itself, she was ready with her upside-down American flag—a distress symbol—to return to Window on the Bay in Monterey. (Organizers say about 30 people showed up to a protest in Salinas.) 

"I was trying to be hopeful with the new year," she says. "It just hit me hard, and now I'm angry again. This president said, 'no more wars.' 

"I felt like I'd been punched in the gut," Ramos continues. "But it's good to see a good turnout so last-minute." 

Ramos joined about 200 others in Monterey on Saturday afternoon with protest signs and American flags. Many signs were repurposed from previous protests during the Trump administration, but many messages were specific to the day's news. They had messages like "No Blood for Oil," "Dictators Don't Ask Congress for Permission," "The U.S. Has Become a Rogue State," and "Happy New Year War."  

Justin Loza is president of Chapter 46 of Veterans for Peace and helped organize the protest along with other groups including Indivisible Monterey Bay, 50501 Monterey and Unite Monterey County. He first heard the news about Maduro in a text from his brother he saw when he woke up around 5:30am. 

"It's shocking to wake up to this," says the Air Force veteran. "I support our military, but how we use it for foreign intervention is just un-freaking real."

Loza says he was in ninth grade when 9/11 happened, and he planned to enlist as soon as he was out of high school, and he did. He deployed to the United Arab Emirates and to Afghanistan during his service from 2005-11.

Many protesters say part of their purpose is to express solidarity, and also to get the attention of members of Congress. 

Both of Monterey County's representatives (both Democrats) oppose the administration's actions in Venezuela.

County Supervisor Kate Daniels, who represents District 5 (including Monterey), joined the protest with a sign that read, "Where is Congress." She believes the U.S. action in Venezuela is intended to distract Americans from domestic issues, including the release of the Epstein files. 

"Since January, we know who Trump is," she says. "We also know the power we have as people. We are the only that can create change. We have that power."