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Venezuelan Reaction

'We are free, we are happy'
Venezuelans around the world celebrate the capture of Maduro

Venezuelans around the world are celebrating the capture of President Nicolas Maduro after he was flown out of the country and indicted on drugs charges in the United States.

More than eight million citizens have fled Venezuela since 2014 due to rampant violence, inflation, gang warfare and shortages of food and medicine. 

As a result, the country has been left facing one of the largest displacement crises in the world, according to the United Nations.

So while Maduro's capture sent shockwaves around the world, jubilant Venezuelans spilled out onto the streets today to welcome the news with singing and dancing.

Many were pictured holding both US and Venezuelan flags in a gesture to Donald Trump, who ordered the special forces operation to capture Maduro.

One person celebrating in Chile said: 'I've come to celebrate because the dictatorship has fallen, Maduro's drug trafficking has fallen, and Nicolas Maduro and Diosdado Cabello.

'We are free, we are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we have a free country.'

Another in Doral, Florida, added: 'Today, justice is being served. Justice is being served for all the Venezuelans who left our country to demonstrate who we are.

Many people were pictured holding both US and Venezuelan flags in a gesture to Donald Trump, who ordered the special forces operation to capture Maduro

Venezuelans living in Chile celebrate the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Santiago on January 3

'We are fighters, we entrepreneurs, we are good people but we want to return to our country and rebuild, move forward and continue being that force that we have always been.

'Long live Venezuela.'

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were seized by the US Army's elite Delta Force unit during airstrikes in Caracas at around 2am local time on Saturday.

Explosions rang out across the city, with flames seen billowing into the air.

Speaking to The New York Times, nine minutes after he announced the raid, Trump said: 'A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people.

'It was a brilliant operation, actually.' Asked if he had consulted Congress prior to authorizing the strike, Trump said: 'We'll discuss that.'

The security-conscious Maduros were having their location tracked by the CIA in the days leading up to their capture, CNN reported.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has demanded 'proof of life,' suggesting he fears Maduro and Flores may have been killed during the operation.

Venezuelans around the world are celebrating the capture of President Nicolas Maduro

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President Trump says Maduro and his government have conspired to flood the United States with illegal drugs.

Maduro was indicted in 2020, during Trump's first term as president, on charges of importing cocaine into the United States.

Trump offered a $15million reward for his arrest at the time.

That rose to $25million during the final days of former President Joe Biden's administration and was doubled to $50million in August 2025 after Trump began his second term as president.

Trump alleges Maduro is leader of a drug running organization called Cartel de los Soles and has designated the group a foreign terrorist organization.

On Saturday morning, United States Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro 'will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts'.

She said Maduro will face multiple weapons charges in addition to the drug counts he is facing.

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Venezuelans in South Florida mark Maduro's ouster as 'day of freedom'

PALM BEACH, FL — Miriam Hidalgo woke at 3 a.m. on Jan. 3 to the phone call the 66-year-old Venezuelan-American has waited decades to receive: The U.S. had taken Nicolás Maduro, her homeland's president, into custody.
 
The move filled the Palm Beach County, Florida, resident — who moved to the U.S. in 1995 to raise her two daughters away from the instability she felt brewing in the place she was born — with relief and joy.
 
“After 30 years living in this country, to see the government doing something so wonderful, it makes me so happy,” Hidalgo said as she stood hours later with other supporters near Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach estate where President Donald Trump gave the order to make the military action happen.
 
Hidalgo was one of thousands of people across South Florida to stop and celebrate the ouster of a man whose government they say is marked by corruption, authoritarian tactics, widespread food shortages, the collapse of public services, hyperinflation and, U.S. prosecutors say, narco-terrorism.

Reaction from Palm Beach County after US Operation in Venezuela

'Today is the day of freedom'
 
Edgar Rodriguez got his call about the operation in Caracas two hours before Hildago. He stood in a sea of Venezuela's colors — red, blue and yellow — outside the El Arepazo restaurant in Doral, Florida, and said the ouster of the South American nation's strongman had him hoping that one day, he might return home.
 
“It’s 26 years of a nightmare,” Rodriguez, a coordinator for Vente Venezuela, the political party many say ousted Maduro from the presidency in the 2024 election. “So many innocent people have died. There are so many tortured political prisoners and families separated by people being forced to flee the country.”
 
“Today is the day of freedom,” Rodriguez added. “Today, that nightmare finally comes to an end.”
 
The scene around Rodriguez grew more festive as more than 100 people descended on the restaurant, a landmark that stands about a mile northwest of Trump National Doral Miami golf club.
 
Some draped the Venezuelan flag on their backs, others held posters saying “Freedom for Venezuela” and “Until the end," and much of the crowd of more than 100 put their hands on their chests and sang their nation's anthem, "Gloria Al Bravo Pueblo," in unison. 
 
“USA! USA! USA!" they chanted as they finished.