Venezuelan-American journalist sounds alarm on pro-Maduro protests, calls them a 'threat to national security'

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Venezuelan journalist calls out ‘absolutely shameful’ pro-Maduro protests

Venezuelan-American journalist Germania Rodríguez Poleo discusses protests across the United States calling for Nicolás Maduro’s release and recounts her escape from Caracas as a child on ‘Fox & Friends.’

A Venezuelan-American journalist who fled the South American country as a child condemned protesters calling to "free Maduro," denouncing the demonstrations as an insult to Venezuelans who suffered under the regime and a threat to U.S. national security.

"It's disgusting, both as an American and as a Venezuelan. It's so obvious there's not one Venezuelan in those protests," said Germania Rodriguez Poleo, who escaped Venezuela with her mother when she was 11 years old.

"These people are disrespecting our tragedy, are disrespecting our political prisoners, those we have lost, those who are still in Venezuela's jails, those who are still starving."

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Protesters gather at the Dirksen Federal Building Plaza in Chicago on Jan. 3, 2026, condemning the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier that day. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Poleo called the demonstrations "absolutely shameful" Tuesday on "Fox & Friends" and said the fact that so many Americans went out to show support for a "criminal dictatorship" was a "threat to national security."

She said her mother, also a journalist, was accused of terrorism for speaking out against then-Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, forcing them into hiding before fleeing the country.

Even after American forces captured Nicolás Maduro last week, Poleo said the country remains under authoritarian control.

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"Today, we're still under the same tyranny. We have hope, but my friends, my family in Venezuela remain terrorized by the regime. That's why you don't see them celebrating on the streets, because they're scared for their lives," she said, adding that the government has threatened to take action against U.S. sympathizers. 

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"But they are hopeful. They are afraid of what comes next, but they feel they have hope for the first time in 26 years."

Maduro was succeeded by his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who was recently sworn into office as Venezuela's new president.

President Donald Trump ordered the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who was arraigned in federal court in New York on Jan. 5, 2025. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Gaby Oraa/Getty Images)

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Poleo thanked President Donald Trump for taking action, and urged him to "finish the job" amid fears stemming from Rodríguez’s leadership.

"She's even more radical than Maduro," Poleo said. "She's a true ideologue, but she's very smart and worldly, and she knows how to handle herself. So right now, we Venezuelans fear that they're gonna leave us with Delcy Rodríguez, who we know as our chief of torture."