Sawt Falasteen - Venezuelans in Florida rejoice over Maduro's fall, fret over future

Now these Venezuelans -- forced to flee their country due to financial hardship or political persecution -- are hoping for a better future for Venezuela after years of political and economic crisis.

Before dawn, Venezuelans started gathering outside El Arepazo, a popular restaurant in Doral, a Miami-area city where more than 40 percent of the population hails from Venezuela.

"We woke up with the news that someone finally had done justice, and this fills us with happiness," said Douglas Zarzalejo, a 55-year-old Venezuelan who has lived in Florida for 11 years.

"Our country's recovery has begun," he added.

Many of the revelers waved the red, yellow and blue Venezuelan flag as they sang and hugged each other over news of the fall of Maduro, who was captured with his wife Cilia Flores and taken out of the country en route to New York to face trial on "narco-terrorism" and weapons charges.

The Venezuelans here blame him for the country's ugly slide from oil wealth to economic basket case beset with shortages of everything and harsh political repression.

Amid the celebration, one young man waved a poster that read, "Trump was right about everything."

For many people in Doral, Trump is a hero. He waged a weeks-long campaign of military pressure leading up to the pre-dawn raid and likened Maduro to a drug kingpin whose days were numbered.

"Trump will go down in history as the first president who finally faced up to these corrupt people who kidnapped our country," said Zarzalejo.

- 'Justice was done' –

Across the street from the Arepazo restaurant, a woman named Liz Vivas cried as she remembered her husband, Wilmer Munoz, a civil servant who had criticized the Maduro government. Vivas said the authorities caused him to disappear in 2018.

"I know nothing about him, so this is great news. I could not bury him. I could not see him. But thanks to the fall of Nicolas Maduro, I can breathe a bit," said Vivas, who is 39.

"I feel like justice was done."

As Trump began a mid-day press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate to talk about the overnight raid that nabbed Maduro, the hundreds of Venezuelans celebrating in Doral fell silent to watch and listen on their cell phones.

Trump said the United States will run Venezuela until a transition is possible and dampened the festive mood when he said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been in contact with Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro's stalwart vice president.

"She's essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again," Trump said.

Another buzzkill came when Trump dismissed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who is wildly popular among the Venezuelan diaspora. Trump said she cannot be leader now because she "doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country."

This is a shocking statement -- the United States and much of the international community have argued that the winner of Venezuela's 2024 election was not Maduro as he claimed but rather Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who stood in for Machado when the government barred her from running for president.

"Maria Corina is our president. We have no representative other than her," Vivas said emphatically.

- 'Mixed feelings' -

For some Venezuelans in Florida, the cloud of uncertainty now hanging over Venezuela saps the euphoria they feel over the ouster of Maduro.

"I do not know what is going to happen. Trump just said that the vice president (Rodriguez) is with him. He is crazy. Everyone loves Maria Corina," said Eleazar Morrison, a 47-year-old Venezuelan.

"I don't trust Trump but I am very grateful," he added.

Raul Chavez, a Venezuelan living in Miami, said he was worried by the remarks of Trump, who also said the United States will now tap Venezuela's oil wealth.

"I have mixed feelings. I really want Venezuela to be free, but I also want it to be independent, and we hope there can be a transition or an elected Venezuelan government."

I.Matar--SF-PST