Alamogordo, NM – January 4, 2026 – A small group of protesters took to the streets of Alamogordo on January 3 to oppose the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but online reactions to local coverage of the event have revealed far broader community support for the Trump administration’s swift and decisive strike.
The demonstration unfolded during the weekly “Honk and Wave Rally” at the busy intersection of 10th Street and White Sands Boulevard, where approximately 18 or so participants held signs criticizing the operation as an “illegal war” without congressional approval. Local outlet 2nd Life Media Alamogordo Town News documented the event in detail, quoting protesters such as Shari Adkinsson, who declared it “an absolutely illegal war,” and veteran Scott Thompson, who argued the motives primarily benefited “big oil companies.” The report also described a near-violent incident when a motorcyclist swerved dangerously close to the group.
Interview via podcasts with protesters…
https://youtube.com/shorts/cKGAa_x-ErY?feature=shared
Yet when the article was widely shared on Facebook, Nextdoor and in local community groups, the comment sections told a markedly different story
Residents flooded the posts with praise for “Operation Absolute Resolve”—the overnight airstrikes and subsequent capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores—celebrating it as a masterful blow against a narco-dictatorship responsible for flooding American streets with fentanyl and destabilizing the region.
Notable comments from shared posts and related discussions include:
• “Finally someone had the guts to do it! Maduro destroyed Venezuela and was killing Americans with his drugs. President Trump just made the world safer.”
• “Zero U.S. casualties, pinpoint precision—our military is the best on Earth. This is leadership we haven’t seen in years.”
• “While a handful protest, the silent majority cheers. Venezuelans are dancing in the streets of Miami waving American flags. That says everything.”
• “These protesters are clueless. This wasn’t ‘war’—it was justice. Thank God for a president who puts America first.”
In a community anchored by Holloman Air Force Base and steeped in military tradition, this digital outpouring reflects a prevailing sentiment that views the operation not as reckless intervention, but as a necessary and overdue enforcement action against a regime long indicted for narco-terrorism.
Nationally, opinions remain more divided along partisan lines, with pre-strike polls showing majority opposition among Democrats and independents, though strong backing from Republicans. Celebrations among Venezuelan-American communities in Florida contrasted sharply with anti-intervention rallies in liberal cities.
Historically, quick, low-casualty operations with clear objectives—such as the 1989 removal of Manuel Noriega in Panama—have sustained public approval far longer than protracted conflicts.
If the Venezuela mission remains limited, avoids mission creep, and delivers tangible reductions in drug flows, it could buck the trend of eroding support seen in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ultimately, the stark contrast in Alamogordo—between a vocal minority on the sidewalk and an enthusiastic majority online—serves as a microcosm of a deeper national debate.
For many here and across red-state America, addressing threats at their source, even abroad, is not a distraction from domestic priorities like crime, housing costs, and inflation, but an essential part of solving them. By dismantling a key node in the fentanyl pipeline and signaling strength to adversaries, supporters argue, the operation advances border security and public safety in ways that purely domestic measures cannot.
In the eyes of this military-minded community, January 3, 2026, will be remembered not as the start of another endless war, but as the day America reclaimed its resolve—and Alamogordo stood proudly behind it. Time will tell what the longer term sentiment will be but whatever it is we will be reporting it!
Source: 2nd Life Media Alamogordo Town News article: “Alamogordo Protesters Join National Outcry Over U.S. Military Operation in Venezuela Without Congressional Approval” (published January 3, 2026; https://2ndlifemediaalamogordo.town.news/g/alamogordo-nm/n/354577/alamogordo-protesters-join-national-outcry-over-us-military-operation). Additional context drawn from national reporting on public reactions, Venezuelan expatriate celebrations, and historical military operations.
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