Joy meets fear as the Venezuelan community processes Maduro’s capture from Mexico

The Jan. 3 detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States prompted thoroughfare celebrations and protests successful adjacent measure.

For astir Mexico-based Venezuelans, however, the concern is acold much analyzable than images of demonstrations and debates connected societal media suggest.

In San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, a protester holds a motion reading: “Invasion is not celebrated. Strength, Venezuela.” (Isabel Mateos Hinojosa/Cuartoscuro)

On Saturday morning, U.S. subject forces entered Venezuelan territory, sidesplitting astatine slightest 80 people, including 32 Cuban members of the president’s information detail, earlier capturing Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, successful the superior of Caracas. The brace was transported to New York, wherever they present look proceedings connected charges including cocaine trafficking, to which some person pleaded not guilty. 

Hours aft the operation, U.S. President Donald Trump announced astatine a press conference that his medication would oversee Venezuela “until we tin bash a safe, due and judicious transition,” adding that U.S. companies would commencement operating successful Venezuela’s lipid reserves.

Many Venezuelans surviving successful Mexico, acold distant from astir of their household members, experienced a premix of emotions arsenic accusation trickled in.

Jessica Valero, who arrived successful Mexico successful August 2024 aft a agelong and arduous overland travel that took her done the Darién Gap, woke up to a connection from her begetter saying that Caracas had been bombed. “I was truly scared, really, truly scared. I person immoderate relatives successful the military, and I’m precise acrophobic for their safety.” 

Valero instantly called her dad, who confirmed each her household members were safe, and told her that Maduro had been captured. “And I curse you won’t judge me, but I couldn’t consciousness my legs. I mean, I had to kneel down and thin connected thing due to the fact that I couldn’t judge it.”

‘A indispensable evil’

Many Venezuelans successful exile shared a akin experience: archetypal confusion, followed by excitement aft proceeding the quality of Maduro’s arrest. However, their perspectives connected what is to travel differ. 

“Certainly, the concern successful my state is precise complex, and everything that has happened has generated a batch of controversy, but successful my opinion, I deliberation that this surgical involution by the United States is simply a measurement that was indispensable to reconstruct ideology and stableness to the country,” Valero said, adding that, “deep down, Venezuelans cognize that the United States’ engagement close present is simply a indispensable evil.”

Bárbara Guevara, who has owned a Venezuelan edifice successful Mexico City for 12 years, echoed a akin sentiment. “I deliberation that if it hadn’t happened this way, we would beryllium similar Cuba, and that scares maine overmuch more,” she said. However, her fearfulness inactive outweighs hope. “I privation Venezuela to go a caller Panama. But based connected Trump’s ain statements, it’s going to go an Iraq.”

Manuel Chacón, a Chief Operating Officer of a exertion institution successful Mexico City, who near Venezuela successful 2017 aft being astatine the forefront of galore anti-government protests, is besides hesitant to celebrate. “I’m not genuinely content. Obviously, 1 feels joyousness astatine seeing Maduro imprisoned, but matters are acold from being decently resolved.” Worse, helium fears the concern could deteriorate. “If the U.S. oversimplifies the occupation and lone changes the middleman, replacing Maduro with Delcy Rodríguez [Maduro’s vice-president], the concern could go overmuch much analyzable than it was with Maduro.”    

Chacón had brought a peculiar vessel of rum from Venezuela to observe the eventual autumn of the Chavista regime, but it remains successful his cupboard. “I didn’t privation to unfastened it adjacent though I saw the photograph of Maduro’s arrest. No, determination is inactive immoderate mode to go.”

A pistillate celebrates with a emblem connected Saturday successful Cancún, Quintana Roo, which is location to astir 11,000 Venezuelans. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)

Mariela Hernández, who has lived successful Mexico City for 10 years and presently runs an creation store business, has a much affirmative outlook. “A state similar the United States is not going to put millions of dollars for different histrion of the aforesaid Chavista authorities to stay successful power; that is not going to happen.” She noted that “the modulation volition surely beryllium difficult, but determination volition beryllium a way to ideology for Venezuela that has undoubtedly already begun.”

A Mexican lens

Hernández voiced that immoderate Mexicans person expressed to her that they reason the United States’ subject actions successful her state due to the fact that they interruption the sovereignty of the people. To this, she responded, “The sovereignty of my radical was violated 26 years ago; determination is nary longer immoderate sovereignty, determination is thing near to protect.” She added, “Yes, it’s an invasion, but it’s an penetration that volition bring state to a state that has been oppressed for 26 years.” 

Silvia Lopez, a marketplace expert with a bachelor’s grade successful governmental subject from Monterrey, agrees that, arsenic a Mexican who has not lived successful Venezuela during Maduro’s regime, she does not person the cognition to remark connected what the extremity of Maduro’s presidency means for the country. At the aforesaid time, she fears that the overseas penetration of Venezuela sets a precedent for different countries, particularly Mexico, arsenic contiguous neighbors of the United States: “Today it’s them, and time it could beryllium us.” 

“I spot it arsenic a double-edged sword,” Lopez commented. “On the 1 hand, you privation to observe the bully quality for each the radical who person lived successful precarious conditions due to the fact that of Maduro’s regime. But astatine the aforesaid time, it is besides worrying to spot however easy the U.S. authorities was capable to intervene and kidnap the existent president of a country, though not a morganatic oregon antiauthoritarian president, and driblet bombs and onslaught the civilian population.” 

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has besides condemned the U.S. subject operation. “We categorically cull involution successful the interior affairs of different countries,” she said during her regular property league connected Monday, aft Trump suggested implicit the play that “something has to beryllium done astir Mexico.”

Sheinbaum: ‘Intervention does not bring ideology to the people’

Mariana Pinto, a connection sciences postgraduate from Mexico City, takes a antithetic stance. “I americium successful favour of the intervention. Whether it was Russia, China oregon the United States, idiosyncratic had to intervene due to the fact that the state was nether a dictatorship that had plunged it into utmost poverty.” 

Pinto prefers to spot the sentiment of the Venezuelans she has spoken to, who look happy, alternatively of casting her ain judgement arsenic an outsider. “You shouldn’t speech astir a country’s authorities and springiness your opinion, due to the fact that they are the lone ones who cognize what is happening.”

Two communities, contrasting responses

Many Mexican protestors who joined demonstrations connected Saturday and Sunday would disagree with Pinto.

In Oaxaca city, for example, members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) and different societal organizations took the signifier connected the main square’s kiosk aft marching done the metropolis halfway connected Jan. 3 to dependable their disapproval of Maduro’s capture.

“The aggression against Venezuela is an aggression against each peoples who combat for their sovereignty, self-determination and power of their earthy resources. It is simply a connection of warfare to immoderate federation that dares to interruption distant from imperialist logic,” 1 of the spokespeople exclaimed. 

“That is wherefore from Oaxaca, a territory of struggle, absorption and dignity, we telephone for contiguous and imperishable mobilization, reaffirming that bid tin lone beryllium built with societal justness and fashionable sovereignty,” she added. Meanwhile, the nationalist chanted “Stop the imperialist war,” “Yankees retired of Venezuela” and “Yankees retired of Latin America.”

The aforesaid day, a radical of protestors successful Mexico City gathered astatine the U.S. and Venezuelan embassies to “express the full rejection of immoderate benignant of U.S. intervention,” arsenic Jorge Rivas, a governmental activistic and an progressive subordinate of the Communist Party of Mexico, enactment it. 

“Yankees retired of Latin America, Venezuela resist!” reads a motion during a protestation against U.S. interventionism connected Jan. 3, 2026, successful Oaxaca. (Vera Sistermans)

“This is simply a wide connection to Mexico and the full continent that immoderate state that does not bow to U.S. interests volition beryllium invaded oregon intervened in,” Rivas said. “Always with an excuse supported by a narrative, specified arsenic the weapons of wide demolition of Asian countries, and today, the connection coercion is replaced by cause trafficking, and the aforesaid attack is taken.”

Some Venezuelans successful Mexico City struggled to recognize Mexican protestors’ motives and felt that by utilizing Venezuelan flags, they were posing arsenic Venezuelans portion defending Maduro’s government. 

Valero shares this opinion: “It would beryllium precise inconsistent of me, coming from a state wherever state of look is not presently possible, to accidental these protests [by Mexicans] are wrong.” But she argued, “As a Venezuelan, I cull the information that determination are radical of different nationalities who unreal to beryllium Venezuelan, supporting thing they don’t truly cognize due to the fact that they haven’t experienced it themselves.”

Hernández agreed. “We don’t recognize wherefore the Mexicans not lone spoke, but besides pretended to cognize much astir the concern successful Venezuela than we ourselves, who person suffered each these years.”

Contrary to these protests, pursuing the seizure of Maduro, immoderate Venezuelans took to Mexico’s authorities capitals to celebrate.

Hernández herself was 1 of dozens of Venezuelans who gathered astatine Polanco’s Parque Lincoln successful Mexico City. “What motivated maine to articulation this gathering was to observe the opening of the extremity of the dictatorship successful Venezuela,” she explained.

Valero, connected the different hand, noted that celebrations consciousness premature. “There are galore families successful Venezuela that are crying for their relatives,” she said, “and others cannot observe oregon rise their voices due to the fact that they are not allowed to.” As the concern develops, for astir people, joyousness and fearfulness proceed to beryllium broadside by side.

Vera Sistermans is simply a freelance writer and information expert based successful Mexico City. Her enactment mostly focuses connected Indigenous culture, unit and resilience.

Additional reporting by David Martínez.