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The possibility of U.S. troops being sent to intervene in a Venezuelan political crisis drew a crowd of Southern Oregonians to downtown Medford. In solidarity with similar Veterans for Peace protests around the country, about three dozen locals gathered at Vogel Plaza Saturday afternoon to express grave concerns about recent statements from President Trump indicating “all options are on the table” to stabilize a tumultuous Venezuela in the wake of a contested election. Holding a sign that said “Put all pro war supporters on point,” Bryce Hutchinson of Rogue River called the possibility of troops being sent to intervene in another country’s civil war “dangerous stuff.” Hutchinson, who said he served as a jet mechanic for the military between 1964 and 1967 and lost friends in the Vietnam War, said he doesn’t want to see people killed for “pretty much no good reason.” Other signs at the rally said “Respect other nations’ elections,” “No U.S. coup in Venezuela” and “solidarity with the Venezuelans.” Allen Hallmark of Talent, a Vietnam combat veteran and longtime peace activist in Southern Oregon, said he believes the United States should be beefing up its state department rather than military intervention. “I saw what war does to a country,” Hallmark said, describing “devastation that’s wrought across the land” for all sides of a war. One apparent counterprotester was a driver turning from Main on to Central Avenue, who opened her car window to tell the protesters, “People are starving in Venezuela.” Hallmark said military involvement typically “does kind of the opposite of what it’s supposed to do,” often building resentment at the military occupation rather than gratitude for troops putting their lives on the line. Mark Howard, president of the Rogue Valley chapter of Veterans for Peace and an Air Force veteran who served between 1965 and 1969, said he’s opposed to military action because there’s no “end game in sight.” “We don’t really have a game plan, we just have people shooting,” Howard said. Other peace demonstrators stood opposed to military action because of their ties to South America. Pauline Black of Ashland held a sign that read: “No more U.S. intervention in Central America. We brought death squads and repression to El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and on and on around the world. No more. No U.S. war in Venezuela.” Black said she knew many people who fled El Salvador in the early 1980s, at one point living with two women from El Salvador whose brother disappeared without explanation. She’s also met Chilean refugees. “I heard their life stories,” Black said. Isabella Tibbetts of Phoenix attended the rally wearing the colors of the Ecuadorian flag painted on her face, saying, “I stand by my South American relatives.” Tibbetts and her sister were born in Ecuador before they were adopted and raised in Southern Oregon. “It’s important the U.S. supports countries that are trying to get on the right path,” Tibbetts said. Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MTCrimeBeat.