“Don’t listen to this war criminal!”

So declared CodePink peace activists on Wednesday, as Trump-appointed special envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams testified before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, before they were ushered out of the room and arrested.

“Venezuela needs negotiations, not a coup or military intervention,” said CodePink national co-director Ariel Gold, the first to be arrested, as she decried ongoing U.S. intervention in the Latin American country. “Don’t let Abrams take us down a path of war.”

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Abrams, a neoconservative who has been called the “Assistant Secretary of Dirty Wars” for his work in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations, was selected as special envoy after the Trump administration—following reports of secret meetings with rebellious military officers about overthrowing President Nicolás Maduro—officially recognized self-declared “Interim President” Juan Guaidó last month.

Since then—and despite outcry from anti-war campaigners, members of Congress, and more than 70 academics and experts—the administration has steadfastly supported Juan Guaidó, imposed sanctions on the state-owned oil company, and repeatedly threatened military action.