“No blood for oil! No blood for oil!”

The chant rang out across Portland’s Longfellow Square on Saturday afternoon, where over 100 people gathered to protest President Trump’s early morning strike against Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Protesters carried signs Saturday afternoon, each bearing slogans like “no war” and “impeach now.”

At the edge of the crowd, Freeport resident Alejandro Zarco voiced his support for the Venezuelan people.

“We shouldn’t contribute to the destabilization of foreign countries,” Zarco said. “The measures taken against Maduro and the Venezuelan government were extreme and violent, and the administration is trying to keep it covert that they’re committing violent acts on the international stage.”

Nearby, Maine filmmaker and author Kate Kaminski attended the protest with her partner, Elizabeth Carson.

She has been anti-war her whole life, she said, and protesting is one of the only ways she feels she can make a difference in the country’s political landscape.

“It’s like, there’s no way to change anything through the election process, so it feels important to try to do something anyway and take some kind of action,” Kaminski said. “I wish more people did.”

Carrying a sign reading “big crime in D.C. at the White House,” Portland resident Paulo Correia is no stranger to protests at Longfellow Square.

“I’ve been out here every weekend to stand out for Palestine,” Correia said.

On Saturday, he was there to stand out for Venezuela.

“It’s good to be around like-minded people who want to see change,” Correia said. “We believe change happens from the ground up.”

Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner spoke at Saturday’s rally, condemning the administration’s strike against Venezuela.

Platner called the move an “illegal invasion of a sovereign nation,” and said President Trump’s reasoning for the attack was to “put Venezuelan oil resources into the hands of United States companies.”

“We must be clear-eyed and blunt. This is not foreign policy. This is gangsterism on an international scale,” Platner said. “We must not be fooled by the childish lies being used to justify this illegal aggression.”

As the crowd readied itself to march to Portland’s Monument Square, Platner shared a story from 2003, when he protested the United States invasion of Iraq.

“We had a chant back then,” Platner said. “That is a chant we’re going to have to get acquainted with again.”

The sea of people then continued on to Monument Square, still waving their homemade signs and banners.

“No blood for oil! No blood for oil!” they chanted.