New York, NY – On October 3, New Yorkers joined the Anti-War Action Network National Day of Action to demand no U.S. intervention in Venezuela and “Free Cilia, free Maduro.” Waving Venezuelan flags and holding signs that read “Support women’s health! Release Cilia Flores,” 50 local activists and community members rallied outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, in Sunset Park, where Maduro and Flores are being held prisoner on bogus charges of narcoterrorism.

The rally marked nine months since Maduro and Flores were abducted from Caracas, Venezuela during an illegal U.S. raid, which killed over 100 people. It also came only five days before Cilia Flores is due in court for a hearing to decide whether she should be released under house arrest as a result of her worsening health. Since being kidnapped, Flores has experienced increasingly severe cardiac issues, including what her lawyers believe was a heart attack on July 29.

Additionally, court documents filed on September 30th revealed that in May 2026, the U.S. government attempted to force Flores to undergo heart surgery without her consent, transporting her to the hospital without warning and without a chance to consult with her lawyers. Her lawyers cite these and other incidents as part of their argument that Flores must be released to house arrest in order to undergo the needed heart surgery, which she would not be able to effectively recover from while in custody at the MDC.

At the rally, speakers kept the focus on Flores and highlighted these revelations from the court documents.

Briony Smith, who led the action on behalf of Brooklyn Against War, said “Now, Cilia needs us to come to her defense. Cilia is facing the same mistreatment, medical neglect, and denial of her bodily autonomy that so many women in the U.S. prison system face. We are here because she should never have been illegally abducted from Caracas. We are here because every woman has the right to make their own medical decisions. We are here because we must fight for Cilia as fiercely as she has fought for the women and people of Venezuela.”

Other speakers at the rally represented a broad coalition of anti-imperialist organizations, including Black Alliance for Peace, Workers World Party, All African People’s Revolution Party, Struggle La Lucha, Colectivo Bravo Pueblo, Movimiento Revolución Ciudadana, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Amidst chants of, “Free the prisoners, free them all! Free Cilia from these walls,” Joe Wilkins of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “So when we, as citizens of the United States, say ‘Free Cilia Flores,’ we’re not asking! We’re demanding that our government takes its boot off the neck of Venezuela, off Latin America, off the Caribbean, off West Asia, off the Pacific, off everyone it’s holding as a political prisoner! The Freedom Road Socialist Organization will not rest until these two political prisoners are free.”

The final speaker of the rally, Michela Martinazzi, also of Brooklyn Against War stated, “The billionaire class thrives on the oppression of women,” said Martinazzi, “from the heartbeat bill to trans women, to kidnapping women by ICE, Black women killed by the police to the thousands of women overseas Vietnam to Korea to the Philippines. By demanding that Cilia receives appropriate medical care, we are standing up for women everywhere neglected by this rotten system!”

After a short march, the rally ended with a moment of celebration. Participants signed cards and sang Happy Birthday for Flores, whose 70th birthday is on October 15.

The same organizations will also rally on Thursday, October 8, outside of the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and continuing through Flores’s hearing, which is scheduled for 10:30 that day. The rally will be followed by a public press conference.

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