A preschool teacher was arrested while giving an interview to local television about how she disagreed with Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela.
22-year-old Jessica Plichta had just finished speaking with ABC 13 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, having organised a protest in the city.
Just three weeks ago, Jessica had visited the country for an international summit, where she said the Venezuelan people ‘loved’ Maduro.
‘Maduro was elected by the people, he’s for the people, and the people want to see his return,’ she claimed.
The legitimacy of Maduro’s multiple terms as President was questioned by the US, Canada and 17 Latin American governments at the time, however.
Maduro, an authoritarian socialist who has been in charge of Venezuela for the past 25 years, has retained his grip on power through questionable elections. He was sworn in as president for the first time in 2013, before taking home two more ‘victories’ in 2018 and 2025.
‘We have to apply pressure at all points that we can,’ Jessica told the reporter. ‘This is not just a foreign issue; it’s our tax dollars that are also being used to commit these war crimes.’
Shortly after the interview concluded, Jessica was arrested for ‘obstructing a roadway’ and ‘failure to obey a lawful command’.
As she was cuffed, her jaw dropped, before she said: ‘I am not resisting arrest. I am going peacefully.’
Hours later, Jessica was released, filmed raising her fist and shouting ‘Viva Maduro.’
After her arrest, Jessica told Zeteo: ‘I don’t think it’s a coincidence that as soon as I finished an interview speaking on Venezuela, I was arrested – the only person arrested out of 200 people.’
Yesterday, Venezuelan leader Maduro told a courtroom in New York that he was innocent of all charges.
Maduro, wearing a blue jail uniform, and his wife were led into court at around noon for a brief, but required, legal proceeding that will likely kick off a prolonged legal fight over whether he can be put on trial in the US.
When asked how he pleaded, Maduro replied: ‘I am innocent. I am a decent man. I am President…’
Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on ‘narco-terrorism’ conspiracy charges.
Narco-terrorism is defined as the involvement of terrorist organisations and insurgent groups in drug trafficking by the Office of Justice.
Maduro and his wife were in their home at the Fort Tiuana military installation in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, ruling party leader Nahum Fernandez said.
Both Beijing and Moscow have condemned Trump’s attack on Maduro, with Russia denouncing the US’s ‘act of armed aggression’ against Venezuela.
China’s Foreign Ministry said it was ‘shocked and strongly condemns’ the US attack, describing it as a ‘brazen use of force against a sovereign state and its actions directed at its president’.
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