"South African activists and political parties rallied outside the American embassy in Pretoria on Thursday to protest against United States attack in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro. Footage shows crowds in red t-shirts marching and chanting, 'Hands off Venezuela', as well as holding placards with images of Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores reading, 'Kidnapped by the empire. Return them NOW.' "The United States has reached the level of being a gangster and a bully," said Muhammed Desai, director of Africa4Palestine organisation. "Yesterday it was Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq - today it is Venezuela. Tomorrow, it could very well be South Africa." Desai drew a parallel between the 'trumped-up' drug trafficking charges levelled against Maduro and the claims of an ongoing 'white genocide' in South Africa. “These are the lies the United States uses to dominate, impose, and interfere with other countries,” he said, stressing that people of the Global South are increasingly seeking alternative partnerships. "We do have alternative relations; we have BRICS, for example. We have other countries that we are beginning to trade with directly. We, together with other countries of the Global South, are beginning to distance ourselves from the US empire," he underlined. Another activist, Alie Komape, in turn denounced Washington's actions in Venezuela, describing the detention of Maduro and his wife as 'illegal and criminal kidnapping' and 'imperialist action'. "One of our demands is the immediate release of President Maduro and his return to his home country, where he is the president. We also demand the withdrawal of all United States forces and proxies from Venezuela," Komape highlighted. It followed a dramatic escalation earlier this month, when US forces conducted strikes on Venezuelan territory and captured Maduro and Flores, flying them to New York to face drug and weapons-related charges. Several countries in Latin America, along with members of the BRICS group and nations across the Global South, criticised Washington’s actions. European Union officials and European governments called for respect for international law but stopped short of directly condemning the operation."