This past Sunday, July 30th, the good people of Venezuela cried for the deaths of at least 17 of their own, killed during the protests against President Maduro's efforts to rewrite the nation's constitution and make Venezuela a dictatorship. Among the dead, a 13 year old boy named Andrian Rodriguez/Adrian Romero, shot in the head by a Maduro sniper in the state of Táchira, and a 15 year old girl, Daniela de Jesus Salomon Machado, shot in the head by a regime sniper also in Táchira. Can we stand quiet as the children of Venezuela die like this? In a democracy, leaders respect the will of the people and comply with peaceful transitions of power between political factions. In Venezuela, President Maduro and his accomplices are using military grade weapons to stop the will of the people, they are using guns and armored vehicles to murder those who raise their voices in opposition, they are using the government apparatus to incarcerate and torture those who dissent. And now, the regime has used snipers to kill children. We can not look away from what is happening in Venezuela. Those who live in the Americas have an obligation to act, to encourage their governments to sanction the Maduro regime. This regime, with its connections to Iran, Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and other countries where human rights and democracy are censored words, can become the next Syria if full scale civil war breaks out and our governments do nothing. This petition is about speaking up for the people of Venezuela. This petition is about remembering that the animals that once brought joy to venezuelan families going to their nation's zoos are now victims of the crisis that the Venezuelan government has provoked. This petition is for Ruperta, the beautiful elephant at the Caricuao Zoo, who remains a victim of hunger and neglect. This petition is for all the animals in Venezuela's zoos. But in caring about Ruperta, we can not and must not turn away our compassion from the reality of what is happening to the Venezuelan people. Remember the names of Adrian and Daniela, the children killed this Sunday by Maduro's snipers. And with them, 15 other human beings like you and me. And with them over 120+ Venezuelans who have died in the last 100 days. Please join this petition and make your own efforts to help the people of Venezuela. Think about the suffering that the Syrian civil war has unleashed in the Middle East, in Africa, and in Europe. If we wait like the world waited to care about the Syrian people, then we will have another civil war, this time in Venezuela, this time in the Americas, right at our doorstep. What happens in Venezuela will impact Colombia and the rest of South America, Central America, Mexico and the United States. This petition is not about left or right wing ideologies. This petition is about promoting peace and democracy for the Venezuelan people, for Ruperta and the other zoo animals that we as a world society are responsible for. God bless the good people of Venezuela and Ruperta. Fuerza y fe, pueblo hermano de Venezuela.