Sri Lankan Ruling Party Leads Leftist Solidarity Protest Outside US Embassy Over Venezuela Crisis
Colombo, January 3 — Sri Lanka’s governing National People’s Power (NPP), led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), staged a high-profile protest outside the United States Embassy in Colombo on Friday, projecting what party leaders described as “unambiguous leftist international solidarity” in response to Washington’s dramatic military action against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Senior JVP leaders, including the party’s General Secretary, along with cabinet-level NPP ministers, parliamentarians, trade union representatives, and student activists, gathered from early morning near the heavily secured diplomatic compound in Galle Road, Kollupitiya. Chanting slogans against “imperialist intervention” and carrying red flags alongside portraits of Latin American revolutionary figures, the demonstrators framed the Venezuela episode as a defining moment for the global Left — and for Sri Lanka’s own ideological posture under a left-leaning government.
The protest followed reports from the United States that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured during a large-scale US military operation in Caracas in the early hours of January 3. US President Donald Trump publicly stated that Maduro was aboard the USS Iwo Jima en route to New York, where he is expected to face narcotics trafficking and weapons-related charges in a Manhattan federal court.
Colombo Reacts to Caracas
Speaking to ColomboWire at the protest site, Union activist Kumara said Sri Lanka could not remain silent in the face of what he called “a flagrant violation of national sovereignty and international law.”
“This is not about personalities or internal Venezuelan politics,” Kumara said. “This is about a superpower using brute military force to remove a leader of a sovereign state. Today it is Venezuela. Tomorrow it could be any country that refuses to fall in line with Washington.”
Behind him, placards read Hands Off Venezuela, Latin America Is Not Your Backyard. Protest organisers said the demonstration was intentionally peaceful but politically emphatic, designed to signal that Sri Lanka’s leftist tradition remains alive even within the structures of state power.
Several senior NPP ministers attended without delivering formal speeches, a move party insiders said was intended to maintain a careful balance between ideological expression and diplomatic protocol. Nevertheless, their presence — some still wearing ministerial security passes — underscored how deeply the Venezuelan issue has resonated within Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition.
The Operation in Caracas
According to information emerging from Washington and regional media, the US operation unfolded in the early hours of January 3, with elite American forces conducting a targeted dawn raid on a residential compound in Caracas believed to house Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Sources cited by ColomboWire said the couple were dragged from their bedroom during the operation, which reportedly involved helicopter insertions, electronic warfare measures, and coordinated strikes on key security installations in the Venezuelan capital. US President Trump told Fox News that at least one American helicopter was hit during the raid, injuring several US personnel.
Foreign journalist teams in Caracas reported hearing multiple explosions across the city and witnessing temporary power outages in several districts. Social media footage showed long queues forming outside pharmacies and grocery stores as residents rushed to secure basic supplies amid uncertainty.
At the same time, scenes of celebration were reported among sections of the Venezuelan diaspora abroad, with some Venezuelans welcoming what they described as the end of a strongman era.
Competing Claims Over Venezuela’s Future
Despite Washington’s declaration that Maduro is in US custody, Venezuela’s political future remains unresolved.
US President Trump said that transitional governance arrangements are still being determined. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado publicly stated that opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia must be installed as interim president to oversee a transition.
However, Venezuela’s foreign minister rejected these claims, insisting that Nicolás Maduro remains the country’s legitimate leader and describing the US action as “an act of war and kidnapping.”
This ambiguity has only intensified global reactions, particularly among leftist movements and governments that view Venezuela as a long-standing symbol of resistance to US hegemony in Latin America.
Sri Lanka’s Leftist DNA on Display
For Sri Lanka’s ruling NPP, the protest served multiple purposes: ideological affirmation, domestic political messaging, and international signaling.
The JVP has historically maintained strong rhetorical solidarity with anti-imperialist struggles worldwide — from Cuba and Nicaragua to Palestine and, more recently, Venezuela. What made Friday’s protest notable was that it was led not by an opposition movement, but by figures who currently wield state power.
A senior NPP parliamentarian told ColomboWire that the party was consciously reviving Sri Lanka’s non-aligned and leftist foreign policy traditions.
“During the Cold War, Sri Lanka spoke clearly against imperial interventions, whether from the West or elsewhere,” he said. “In recent decades, that voice weakened. We are restoring it.”
This posture aligns with the NPP’s broader narrative of resisting external domination — whether through debt, military pressure, or political coercion — a theme that has resonated strongly with voters since the country’s economic collapse and subsequent IMF negotiations.
Echoes of Non-Aligned History
Sri Lanka’s protest also evoked memories of the island’s prominent role in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) during the mid-20th century, when leaders such as Sirimavo Bandaranaike positioned the country as a moral voice against great-power interventions.
Political analysts note that the NPP is deliberately drawing on this legacy to frame its foreign policy identity.
“This is symbolic politics,” said one Colombo-based academic. “The government knows it cannot materially influence events in Venezuela. But symbolism matters — especially for a party whose roots lie in Marxist and anti-imperialist thought.”
By protesting outside the US Embassy, rather than issuing a routine diplomatic statement, the NPP leadership sent a message both to its grassroots supporters and to the international community: Sri Lanka’s left has not been domesticated by office.
Diplomatic Tightrope
At the same time, the protest places Colombo on a diplomatic tightrope. The United States remains a key player in Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, debt restructuring discussions, and geopolitical balancing amid Indo-Pacific rivalries.
Western diplomats privately downplayed the protest, describing it as “domestic political theatre.” However, one senior diplomat acknowledged that images of cabinet ministers protesting outside an embassy are “not routine in modern diplomacy.”
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry, notably, issued no formal statement on the Venezuela operation on Friday, a silence that analysts interpret as a deliberate attempt to compartmentalise street-level political expression from official state policy.
Regional and Global Condemnations
Sri Lankan leftists are not alone in condemning Washington’s move. Several global leaders and political movements have criticised the US action as a violation of international norms, warning that it could set a dangerous precedent for regime change through direct military force.
Left-wing parties across South Asia, Latin America, and parts of Europe issued solidarity statements with Venezuela, while street protests were reported in cities including Buenos Aires, La Paz, and Madrid.
In Colombo, protestors repeatedly invoked Latin America’s long history of US-backed coups, from Guatemala in 1954 to Chile in 1973, arguing that Venezuela is the latest chapter in a familiar story.
Voices From the Protest
Among the crowd were university students, port workers, teachers’ unions, and veterans of Sri Lanka’s own leftist struggles. Many framed their participation not as support for Maduro personally, but as opposition to foreign intervention.
“We can criticise Maduro and still oppose the US kidnapping a president,” said a young activist from the Inter-University Students’ Federation. “That distinction is important.”
Others were more unequivocal, portraying Maduro as a symbol of resistance.
“He stood up to American bullying,” said a trade union leader. “That alone makes him a target.”
Ideology Meets Governance
The Venezuela protest highlights an enduring tension for leftist parties in power: how to reconcile ideological commitments with the practical demands of governance.
Critics argue that such demonstrations risk alienating international partners at a time when Sri Lanka remains economically vulnerable. Supporters counter that abandoning principles for short-term convenience would betray the very mandate on which the NPP was elected.
“If a left government cannot speak against imperialism, what is the point of calling it left?” asked a senior JVP organiser.
A Signal Beyond Colombo
As dusk fell and protesters dispersed under heavy police presence, the symbolism of the day lingered. Images of Sri Lankan ministers standing shoulder-to-shoulder with activists outside the US Embassy quickly circulated on regional leftist platforms and Latin American social media.
For Venezuela, the coming days will determine whether Maduro’s reported capture leads to a negotiated transition, prolonged instability, or international escalation. For Sri Lanka, the protest has already achieved its immediate objective: reaffirming the ideological lineage of its ruling coalition.
Whether this assertive leftist posture will translate into a coherent foreign policy doctrine — or remain largely performative — remains an open question. What is clear is that, at least for one morning in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s left chose the streets over silence, and solidarity over caution.
— ColomboWire Political Desk