Venezuelan migrants in Chile, Spain, Miami and Colombia celebrate Nicolas Maduro’s removal, with many planning to return home after years abroad
BOGOTÁ: Thousands of Venezuelans living abroad gathered in cities worldwide on Saturday to celebrate the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro by US forces.
The strongman, whose 2018 and 2024 re-elections were widely dismissed as fraudulent, was captured in an early-morning military strike and is to be flown to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
In Santiago, Chile, crowds waved Venezuelan flags and wore national colours.
“At last we’ll be able to go back home,” street vendor Yurimar Rojas told AFP.
“At last we’re going to have a free country,” he exclaimed.
Yasmery Gallardo, 61, who has lived in Chile for eight years, said she was already planning her trip home.
“I can’t wait to be back in my country!” she said.
Venezuelans in Chile have been alarmed by far-right president-elect Jose Antonio Kast’s pledge to deport nearly 340,000 undocumented migrants.
In Miami, thousands sang and kissed the Venezuelan flag, with one person shouting “Thank you, Trump!” from the crowd.
“Today, January 3rd, the dreams of Venezuelans abroad came true,” said reveler Ana Gonzalez.
Another, Anabela Ramos, said she had waited “27 years for this moment”.
In Madrid, Spain, thousands chanted “He is gone!” and “He has fallen!” while draped in flags.
“I came to celebrate: at last we’re emerging from this dictatorship!” said Pedro Marcano, 47, who hopes to return home after 11 years abroad.
The country’s future remains uncertain, with US President Donald Trump stating America will “run” Venezuela until a power transfer occurs.
Trump said opposition leader Maria Corina Machado “doesn’t have the support” to be president, but noted Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was ready to work with Washington.
Rodriguez later insisted Maduro was Venezuela’s “only president” and the government was “ready to defend” the nation.
At the Madrid rally, a recorded message from Machado declaring “Venezuela will be free!” brought Marcano to tears.
In Bogotá, Colombia, hairdresser Kevin Zambrano said he was “Happy, happy, happy, happy” to see Maduro gone.
“The first step is done, and everything else is a gain. (Thanks) to Donald Trump for helping Venezuela,” said Zambrano, who left Venezuela a decade ago.
Security guard Yeiner Benitez tearfully recalled the hardship that forced him to leave in 2022.
He said his uncle died from a common illness due to a lack of medicine, a frequent occurrence in crisis-ravaged Venezuela.
“Venezuela has gone through a very difficult process; these have been very hard years,” Benitez told AFP.
“So, forgive the emotion, but what’s happening today is extraordinary; it’s divine justice.”
Not all reactions were positive, with dozens protesting at the US embassy in Mexico City against foreign intervention.
“Venezuelan brothers, resist… don’t hand over your land, your oil, your gold” to the United States, protest leader Mario Benitez told the crowd.
