Venezuelans celebrate Maduro capture after President Donald Trump announcement

Venezuelans around the globe took to the streets following the seize of Nicolás Maduro, whose rule was marked by an financial collapse and mass migration from the oil-rich nation.

Venezuelans in Miami, Florida, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Madrid, Spain, wore Venezuela’s nationwide colours and waved flags, hours after President Donald Trump introduced that Maduro and his spouse had flown overseas following an in a single day US navy operation.

In Miami, Venezuelans danced and cheered, whereas celebrations additionally came about outdoors Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Seaside, Florida. In Doral, Florida, partygoers sang “Freedom!” and draped Venezuelan flags over their shoulders.

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Venezuelans rejoice the seize of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro outdoors Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, January 3, 2025, in Palm Seaside, Florida. (AP Picture/Allison Robbert)

Outdoors the El Arepazo restaurant, a middle of Doral’s Venezuelan tradition, a person held a bit of cardboard with “Libertad” scrawled on it in black marker. It was a sentiment expressed by different native Venezuelans hoping for a brand new starting for his or her homeland as they sang, “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!”

“We’re identical to everybody else — it is a mixture of emotions, in fact,” Alejandra Arrieta, who got here to the U.S. in 1997, advised The Related Press.

‘There are fears. There may be pleasure,” he mentioned. “Now we have waited so a few years for this. One thing needed to be performed in Venezuela. All of us want freedom.”

A toddler holds an indication studying “Somos Libres” (“We Are Free”) throughout a rally in Santiago, Chile, on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump mentioned US forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following a navy operation. (Sebastián Vivallo Oñate/Agencia Makro/Getty Pictures)

Ecstatic crowds additionally gathered in Santiago, Chile, the place a baby held an indication studying “Somos Libres,” which means “We’re Free.”

The demonstrations mirrored the dimensions of the Venezuelan diaspora, which has grown dramatically throughout Maduro’s years in energy, as hundreds of thousands of individuals fled what critics described as a interval of financial collapse marked by hyperinflation and widespread meals shortages.

About 8 million individuals have fled Venezuela since 2017, making it one of many world’s largest displacement crises, in line with the report. UN refugee agency.

Venezuelans in Peru rejoice in Miguel de Cervantes Park close to the Venezuelan Embassy in Lima on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump mentioned US forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following assaults on Venezuela. (Connie France/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)

Greater than 6.9 million Venezuelans presently reside in Latin American and Caribbean nations, whereas a whole bunch of hundreds extra stay in the USA and Europe, the place diaspora communities have remained politically energetic and deeply concerned in occasions again dwelling.

Individuals rejoice in Madrid, Spain, on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump mentioned the USA had struck Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. (Reuters/Violeta Santos Moura)

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Individuals maintain Venezuelan and American flags as they react on the streets of Miami, Florida, on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump mentioned the USA attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. (Reuters/Marco Bello)

Maduro has been in energy since 2013, when he succeeded longtime Venezuelan chief Hugo Chávez after Chávez’s loss of life. He presided over a interval marked by financial decline, political unrest and mass migration.

Not all reactions to the American motion had been festive.

Individuals react on the streets of Miami, Florida, on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump mentioned the US had attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. (Reuters/Marco Bello)

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Protests for and in opposition to the strikes are deliberate in Buenos Aires and different cities within the area, underscoring deep divisions over Venezuela’s future and Washington’s position within the disaster.

In Greece, members of the Greek Communist Occasion demonstrated in opposition to the imprisonment of Maduro.