Venezuelans gathered in Florida, Miami and Santiago to celebrate the United States’ attacks on Caracas amid the US “capture” of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday.
Many were seen singing and dancing in Miami while holding Venezuelan flags, NBC News reports.
In Doral, Florida, the group gathered outside popular restaurant El Arepazo and cheered to celebrate the development. The site has long been a focal point for Venezuelans who have expressed disapproval of injustice in their country over the decades.
Similarly, in Santiago, Chile, Venezuelans gathered to celebrate by singing the national anthem and chanting “Long live Venezuela.”
“History in the Making”
According to Local 10, a man named Edgar was among those celebrating in Doral. He said he came to the United States at age 11 after being born and raised in Venezuela.
“This is history. I mean, my chest feels like it’s exploding with joy because… I mean, before I was even born, my family was fighting for so many years before I was even here – they told me about it,” Edgar stated.
He added that he grew up hearing stories of a time when democracy existed and said he now feels hopeful about the possibility of its return. Expressing deep emotion, he said it meant everything to him, describing Venezuelans as good people, saying they were among the best he’d ever known, while addressing Americans directly.
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The US is attacking Venezuela
Venezuela’s capital Caracas was rocked by explosions as low-flying planes swooped over the city. At least seven explosions were reported during the attack, which lasted less than 30 minutes, and appeared to target military infrastructure. Smoke was seen rising from a hangar at a military base in Caracas, while another facility in the capital experienced a power outage, the AP report noted.
The attack comes after months of mounting pressure from the Trump administration, which has increased its naval presence off South America and launched deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean since early September. Just last week, the US conducted a CIA drone strike on Venezuelan soil at a dock allegedly used by drug cartels.
Meanwhile, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X that both Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York and “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
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She added that Maduro faced charges of “narco-terrorist conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.”
Maduro was indicted in March 2020, during Trump’s first term, but the indictment against Flores has not yet been made public.
Trump said Maduro and his wife were aboard a US warship and would face prosecution in New York.
