Venezuelan protesting against Maduro – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by OSCAR GONZALEZ FUENTES
As a teenager, Dailenys Herrera fled Venezuela because she was unhappy with her chances for further study and employment. She is 21 now and longs to go back and aid in the development and reconstruction of her nation.
Virginia Ponte, 75, wishes she could travel back to her own country on a regular basis without having to worry about corruption and crime.
Gliver Ordosgoitti, 51, wants U.S. airlines to be let to fly direct flights to Caracas again, as they did before to 2019, and that Venezuelan embassies and consulates in the United States be reopened.
Nicolás Maduro’s overthrow by the US administration has given Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans in South Florida hope that they may return home. Many people who have come to the United States from autocratic nations where economies have collapsed and a disproportionate number of people are victims of crime share this desire.
It is unclear what a return would entail, and as of right now, it is primarily a theoretical idea among those who are celebrating Mr. Maduro’s ouster. This past weekend, few Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans in Doral, a Florida community west of Miami that has such a large Venezuelan population that it is frequently referred to as “Doralzuela,” discussed relocating there permanently. Those who immigrated decades ago were particularly affected by this.
For Venezuelans, however, it suddenly seemed plausible to return to their homeland, unlike Cubans, Haitians, and other immigrants who have fled to South Florida.
Yanira Ollarves, 53, a former flight attendant who left Venezuela two years ago, said, “I dreamed of this every day.”
It may have shocked President Trump’s detractors that so many Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans applauded Mr. Maduro’s arrest.
Numerous Democrats and some global leaders questioned whether the American military operation was lawful, and they became even more alarmed when Mr. Trump said that the United States would “run” Venezuela indefinitely. In an attempt to apply pressure on the country’s new leadership, Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed to downplay Mr. Trump’s claim on Sunday by stating that the government would maintain a military “quarantine” on its oil shipments.
Over the weekend, protests against Mr. Maduro’s removal broke out in a number of American cities.
But more Venezuelans live in South Florida than anyplace else in the US. And since a large portion of the population is made up of immigrants from Latin America, the region’s shared yearning for a home left behind may be the most potent force influencing its politics, culture, and identity.
Due to the island’s 1959 revolution and subsequent communist government, which attracted waves of immigrants and political refugees seeking a better life across the Florida Straits, Cuba has influenced Miami’s demographics and peculiar politics for 67 years. “Next year in Havana!” has been a New Year’s Eve toast for decades among Cuban Americans. There is still a strong sense of disappointment over the 1961 failed attempt, supported by the C.I.A., to invade Cuba’s Bay of Pigs and overthrow Fidel Castro.
Venezuelans escaping the left-wing administrations of Hugo Chávez and his successor, Mr. Maduro, have been welcomed by Miami’s remaining Cuban exiles and powerful Cuban American Republican politicians, such as Mr. Rubio, a former senator from Florida and an architect of Mr. Maduro’s overthrow.
Though the parallel is not perfect, the Venezuelan cause became something similar to the Cuban cause. Unlike the original Cuban exiles, many Venezuelans are permitted to return to their homeland; yet, in reality, many are prevented from doing so due to fears of political persecution and instability.
Immigrants from other Latin American nations with left-wing governments, such Nicaraguan Americans, have also been drawn to South Florida by the resurgence of conservative fervor among Cubans and Venezuelans. In recent elections, Mr. Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were able to shift Miami-Dade County from Democratic to Republican rule thanks to such backing. Democrats have begun to gain back some voters; last month, they won the Miami mayoral election in part due to apparent dissatisfaction with Mr. Trump’s immigration enforcement.
Three Cuban American Republican members of Congress from Miami-Dade County stated that they believed that Mr. Maduro’s capture would strengthen Republican electoral support among Venezuelan Americans and other Hispanics while also putting the Cuban government on notice.
At a press conference on Saturday evening, Representative Mario Diaz-Balart expressed his belief that the governments of Cuba and Nicaragua would not make it through the final three years of the Trump administration.
Congressmen and Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans, who were ecstatic at Mr. Maduro’s removal, did not want to focus on important unanswered questions about Venezuela’s future.
What would happen to the remaining members of Mr. Maduro’s government? How long and what form would any American engagement take? Would the US government back María Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient and leader of the Venezuelan opposition, whom Mr. Trump appeared to discount on Saturday as not being capable of leading the nation?
Many expressed concern for the safety of Venezuelan political prisoners and their family members.
The 61-year-old Fernando León foresaw a flood of false information on social media. The 57-year-old Jesús Naranjo expressed concern that the political elite that ruled Venezuela prior to Mr. Chávez would attempt to retake control.
However, since there were no easy answers, a fresh start was cause for celebration.
Jesús Roberto López Castillo, 58, a Venezuelan physician who moved to Miami Springs ten years ago due to what he called political persecution, stated, “This is not something that is going to be resolved overnight, but at least we are on the right track.”
On Saturday, Monica and Justin Pease were among many who traveled to a Chevron gas station in Doral, which is the location of the popular Venezuelan arepa business El Arepazo. Ms. Pease, from Venezuela, waved an American flag while Mr. Pease, from the United States, waved a Venezuelan flag while they were accompanied by their dogs, Marshmallow and Nutella.
The pair, who currently reside in Charlotte, North Carolina, came back to Doral a few weeks ago to celebrate their marriage with family and friends, which was consummated earlier this year. After discovering the military activity in Venezuela through a family group WhatsApp discussion in the middle of the night, they postponed their trip, originally intending to return to Charlotte on Saturday.
In regards to Mr. Maduro, Ms. Pease, 40, who immigrated in 2014, stated, “Everyone was a little afraid until we learned he had been captured.”
Her grandma, who is 97 years old, still resides at home.
Mr. Pease, 42, stated, “We never would have imagined that I might be able to meet her two days ago.” “I might now.”
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