DORAL, Fla.—Music, singing, dancing, smiling, tears of joy, a savory scent of slow-cooked meats, and a faint aroma of tequila filled the afternoon and evening of Jan. 4 in Doral, Florida, where the largest community of Venezuelans in the United States resides.
At a local restaurant specializing in Venezuelan food, especially the signature dish of arepas, hundreds of expatriates gathered out front to celebrate Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s capture in the U.S. mission dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve. In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, the U.S. military launched a calculated, precise attack on Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas, where they apprehended Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
At the Florida rally on Jan. 4, called Venezuela Está Pasando, attendees who spoke to The Epoch Times had harsh descriptions of their country’s former regime leader and high praise for the actions taken by U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. military.
Carlos Higuerey fled Venezuela and moved to Florida eight years ago after he claimed that the regime was stalking him. Now, he said, he is looking forward to more actions the Trump administration could take against the remaining regime in Venezuela.
“We are very, very happy with this action from the U.S.A. government, so now, Venezuela can feel for the first time, for maybe 25 years, freedom,” Higuerey told The Epoch Times, noting that he has faith in Trump and the U.S. government.
Trump previously said during a briefing that the United States is ready to strike again if necessary.
“We’re prepared to do a second strike if we need it,” Trump said on Air Force One on Jan. 4. “If they don’t behave, we will do a second strike.”
Higuerey said that while he was living in Venezuela under Maduro’s brutal dictatorship, it was dangerous to speak out against the regime or talk about capitalism or freedom, which could lead to jail time or torture. The U.S. military operation was necessary, he said.
When asked about Democratic U.S. lawmakers calling the attack illegal and other world leaders in China, Russia, and Mexico condemning it, the Venezuelan man shared choice words against those stances, calling them baffling.
“Those people don’t know nothing,” Higuerey said. “The majority of people from Venezuela asked for help, and for the first time, one government heard our prayers.”
He said it was easy to talk about a communist country from a country where people enjoy freedom.
“The Venezuelan people right now are very, very, very happy,” he said.
“Go to Venezuela and live in Venezuela with $2 per month,” he said, referring to the hardships of living under communism.
Answering questions through his car window as he was leaving the celebration, Robert Perez spoke over the crowd noise to express his concern that more corrupt leaders would take over after the successful removal of Maduro.
However, he said he was optimistic about the future of the U.S.–Venezuela relationship.
“The United States getting into that country, it’s really big,” Perez told The Epoch Times.
“Venezuela is the richest country,” he said, noting that it has large reserves of oil.
Trump said on Jan. 4 that the United States will need access to Venezuela’s oil to help rebuild the country.
Trump stated during a Jan. 3 briefing on Maduro’s capture that the United States would run Venezuela until a peaceful transition of power could be completed, noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth could help lead the South American country.
The interim leader of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, who served as vice president to Maduro and also held positions under the previous Hugo Chávez regime, has said she is seeking collaboration and “respectful relations” with Trump.
Holding her two small, fluffy white dogs on leashes in the crowd, Jennifer Santiago, who has lived in South Florida for about five years since she left Venezuela, said she felt immeasurable joy and happiness after hearing about Maduro’s capture.
“Hope—that we will recover from this evil that has plagued us for 27 years,” she told The Epoch Times in Spanish. “We will be able to live and write the new history of Venezuela without this president, who is a cancer to our country.”
One man, Pedro Millian, was holding a Venezuelan flag at the celebration. He used several expletives and vulgarities when describing Maduro and when speaking of the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel and his regime. He explained how ecstatic he was to hear the news on Jan. 3 about the success of the U.S. military operation.
“Down with communism and the regime in Cuba and in Venezuela,” Millian told The Epoch Times.
Rubio, in the Jan. 3 briefing, issued a warning to Cuban leaders that they should be concerned about being targeted by the U.S. military next.
Oriana, a 29-year-old woman who chose not to give her last name, has lived in South Florida for almost five years. She fled Venezuela when she was 21 years old and told The Epoch Times that Maduro’s downfall was long overdue.
“When I saw it that morning, I was like, ‘This is not real,’” Oriana said.
“All this time I think about this moment, and finally it happens. It was amazing.”
Oriana and the friends she was with at the celebration said they would consider going back to visit Venezuela once they see real change being made.
“They took Maduro, but the government is still there,” Oriana said over the music at the celebration.
Maduro is set to be arraigned on Jan. 5 in the New York City borough of Manhattan on charges of narco-terrorism and several other charges, along with his wife.
When The Epoch Times asked one Venezuelan woman to describe her initial thoughts when she saw news of Maduro’s capture, she replied, “Libertad,” which means “freedom” in English.
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