Venezuelans Worldwide Celebrate US Capture of Maduro

Venezuelans across the world have taken to the streets to celebrate the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, who was flown out of the country and indicted in the United States on drug and weapons charges.

The development has sparked scenes of jubilation among Venezuelans at home and in the diaspora, many of whom say they were forced to flee the country due to years of violence, hyperinflation, gang activity, and shortages of food and medicine. More than eight million people have left Venezuela since 2014, leaving the nation with one of the largest displacement crises in the world, according to the United Nations.

Venezuela is also home to the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, a resource wealth that contrasts sharply with years of economic collapse, mass migration, and political crisis under Maduro’s rule.

Following news of Maduro’s capture, crowds gathered in cities across Latin America, the United States, and Europe, singing, dancing, and waving Venezuelan and US flags. Many said the moment symbolised the collapse of what they described as a dictatorship.

One celebrant in Chile said, “I’ve come to celebrate because the dictatorship has fallen, Maduro’s drug trafficking has fallen. We are free and happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we will have a free country.”

Another Venezuelan in Doral, Florida, said, “Today, justice is being served for all the Venezuelans who were forced to leave our country. We are fighters, entrepreneurs, and good people, and we want to return home to rebuild Venezuela.”

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized during a US military operation carried out in the early hours of Saturday in Caracas. Explosions, low flying aircraft, and columns of smoke were reported across the capital as the operation unfolded.