Protest held in Belgium against US military intervention in Venezuela

A protest was held on Sunday outside the US Embassy in Brussels against Washington's military intervention in Venezuela that captured its president.

The demonstration was organized by civil society groups Vrede vzw and Intal, with hundreds of protesters gathering in front of the embassy.

Demonstrators carried banners reading "No to war in Venezuela," "Venezuela's oil belongs to Venezuela," and "Free (President Nicolas) Maduro, stop the war."

In a statement, Vrede vzw said the US military intervention in Venezuela was aimed at controlling the country's natural resources, "particularly oil and precious minerals."

"This is a blatant imperialist war waged to impose regime change," the group said.

The organization said the US intervention "violates international law" and called on Belgium and the EU to condemn the military action and launch urgent diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation.

Venezuela early Saturday said the US attacked civilian and military installations in multiple states, and then declared ‌a national ‌emergency.

US President Donald Trump confirmed the "large scale" strike, and that Maduro and his wife had been captured and flown out of the country. He later said the US will "run" Venezuela until a "safe" transition is ensured, and fix its "broken" oil infrastructure.

President Donald Trump said US military action on Saturday resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, pledging to "run" the country and fix its "broken" oil infrastructure.