DORAL, Fla. (RTWNews) — Revelers chanted “liberty” and draped Venezuelan flags over their shoulders in South Florida on Saturday to celebrate the American military attack that toppled Nicolás Maduro’s government — a stunning outcome they had yearned for but that left them pondering the future of their homeland.
People gathered for a rally in Doral, Florida — the Miami suburb where President Donald Trump has a golf resort and where roughly half the population is of Venezuelan descent — as news spread that Venezuela’s president had been apprehended and taken out of the country.
Outside the El Arepazo restaurant, a hub of the Venezuelan culture in Doral, one man held a cardboard sign with “Libertad” scrawled in bold letters. This sentiment resonated with many native Venezuelans who anticipated a new beginning for their country, chanting “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!”
“We’re like everybody — it’s a combination of feelings, of course,” said Alejandra Arrieta, who fled to the U.S. in 1997. “There’s fears. There’s excitement. There’s so many years that we’ve been waiting for this. Something had to happen in Venezuela. We all need the freedom.”
Trump insisted Saturday that the U.S. government would run the country at least temporarily and was already doing so. This action capped off an escalating pressure campaign by the Trump administration on the oil-rich South American nation along with weeks of planning that monitored Maduro’s movements.
Approximately 8 million people have fled Venezuela since 2014, seeking refuge first in neighboring countries and now increasingly aiming for the U.S. following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Doral, a mix of professionals and entrepreneurs once came to invest in properties when Hugo Chávez rose to power in the late 1990s. Today, it has expanded to include many lower-income Venezuelans escaping poverty and crisis.
Niurka Meléndez, who immigrated from Venezuela in 2015, expressed hope that Maduro’s ouster could improve prospects in her homeland. Now a co-founder of a New York City advocacy group, she remains a steadfast supporter of efforts for change. “It’s just the start of the justice we need to see,” Meléndez said.
Many in the community now advocate for international humanitarian support to aid in Venezuela’s recovery, emphasizing the pressing need to dismantle the authoritarian regime that has led to extensive suffering.
