As Venezuelans living abroad and in the United States praised the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military, they are concerned about what comes next for the South American country and how to fully remove what they say has been an entrenched regime.
One Venezuelan man in the United States, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of political retaliation against relatives still in Venezuela, spoke with The Epoch Times about how he and his family became U.S. citizens after fleeing Venezuela under the previous President Hugo Chavez's regime, seeking asylum as political refugees in Florida in 2010.
He has deep knowledge of the inner workings of the Venezuelan regime, having served at a high level in the country’s federal justice system and fought against Chavez’s influence that trickled into all facets of the system, he said.
He praised the U.S.’s swift actions in removing Maduro and his wife during “Operation Absolute Resolve,” which ended with no American lives or equipment lost.
“I'm really happy for the people … I have to send to my family in Venezuela money weekly because they don't have work,” he said. “So, I’m happy.”
Andrea Rangel Jimenez is from Venezuela and lived in Colombia after Maduro ordered the mass expulsion of Colombians in 2015. Her mother—part Colombian—made the decision for her family to leave Venezuela. Currently, Jimenez lives in North Florida and told The Epoch Times that the citizens of her country have waited years for Maduro’s regime to end. She has family members and friends who live in the capital city of Caracas, where the U.S. operation unfolded, and around the city.
“We were crying on the phone, like we can't believe this is happening right now,” Jimenez told The Epoch Times. “We were waiting for this. People in Venezuela were dying, so we were waiting for this.”
However, the anonymous source said removing the head from the snake doesn’t mean it won’t grow back. The regime comprises not just Maduro and his wife, he said, but it includes a number of top officials and supporters, including those in the federal judicial system.
“I cannot go back to Venezuela because I'm afraid … you know, they’re gonna take the decision to eliminate me,” he said.
If the new Venezuelan leader doesn’t take immediate and decisive action to remove the group of top officials who supported the socialist regime over the past decades, he said, the country could fall into turmoil.
“The Venezuelan regime has copied every criminal procedure to disappear people, to kill people like Russia and Cuba,” he said. “It’s a copy.”
The man expressed his happiness for millions of Venezuelans who have fled the country because of human rights violations over the years. He said his home country now has the potential to flourish without Maduro’s regime taking advantage of the nation’s bountiful natural resources, including oil, gas, and minerals, for its own advantage.
“We have iron. We have gas. We have the fuel. … So, it’s a rich country, but the regime was trying to expand that socialism throughout the continent,” the source said, adding that his country could flourish if its natural resources were used correctly.
As for Venezuelans within the country, he said he’s especially relieved for thousands of political prisoners who may now be released.
Democrat lawmakers in the United States, including New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, have criticized the U.S. military operation. Leaders of some countries have also condemned Maduro’s capture, including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and Chinese and Russian officials.
In regards to critics calling Maduro and his wife’s capture illegal, Jimenez said: “They kill us. They kill us every day in Venezuela. They kill innocent people.
“We have been waiting for this moment, like, my whole life.”
The Epoch Times spoke with Venezuelans living in neighboring Colombia, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from what remains of the Maduro regime. They were at first worried the U.S. military was launching an invasion rather than a surgical operation to capture Maduro.
Once they realized what had happened, one source said many Venezuelans began singing and dancing with happiness. Others had tears in their eyes.
“Venezuela is free,” one person said. The sources The Epoch Times spoke with described Maduro as a brutal dictator and murderer who works with the drug cartels.
“We want peace, liberty, and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want [them] to go back to their country. It’s their homeland,” Trump said.
Trump said he is appointing a team to run the country, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Trump said that Congress was not notified of the mission in order to prevent potential leaks and that the United States is ready for a second attack if necessary.
U.S. oil companies will also go back into Venezuela, the president said.
Urrutia replaced Machado after she was banned from running for president by the Maduro-run Supreme Court in January 2024. The United States and European Union recognized Urrutia as Venezuela’s rightful president-elect after the disputed 2024 election.
U.S. officials have said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are in custody aboard the USS Iwo Jima en route to New York to stand trial. Maduro is charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
Jimenez, the North Florida-based Venezuelan, explained that she left her country years ago and hasn’t seen many of her friends and family since. Now with Maduro’s capture, she said she thinks she will make a trip back soon.
“I'm so happy. I have been crying the whole day. This is something that we never expected to happen,” Jimenez said. “I feel the freedom again ... My dad—I haven't seen him in a long, long, long time, so I want to be back in my country. I want to see my country happy like it was even before I was born.”