{"id":228692,"date":"2026-01-05T15:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/228692\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T15:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:22:08","slug":"venezuelans-in-ireland-react-to-maduros-capture-by-us-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/228692\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuelans in Ireland react to Maduro\u2019s capture by US \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venezuelans living in Ireland are feeling cautiously optimistic in the wake of the seizing of the country\u2019s president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> by the US<\/a> at the weekend. <\/p>\n

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by US special forces and are now facing criminal charges<\/a> in New York.<\/p>\n

For Carmen Parada Ortiz (33), the abduction of Maduro is personal as it has allowed her to have some hope for her mother Xiomara Ortiz, a retired civil servant and well-known community activist, who was detained by the Maduro government three months ago for opposing the regime. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople with masks took my mum. It was terrifying. Twenty days passed before my family were allowed to see her. She has been tortured,\u201d said Ortiz, who moved to Ireland in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer face was almost broken on the right side. She\u2019s ill and couldn\u2019t get her medicine because she was kidnapped from our house.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The capture of Maduro in Venezuela is an act of naked self-interest by \u2018el imperio yanqui\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a student in university. Many of my friends were arrested and one of them was killed in a protest,\u201d Ortiz said. <\/p>\n

Ortiz fears the situation in her home country will not change as the US only seized \u201cthe face of the regime, Maduro\u201d. She says the man who really rules the country is Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela<\/a>\u2019s minister of the interior, justice and peace. <\/p>\n

\"CarmenCarmen Parada Ortiz, a Venezuelan\u00a0woman living in Ireland, with photographs of political prisoners in Venezuela, including her mother Xiomara Ortiz (in yellow). Photograph: Nick Bradshaw\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

Like Ortiz, Ricardo de Ascen\u00e7\u00e3o (32), said that during protests in 2014, he \u201csaw friends dying on the streets\u201d. <\/p>\n

De Ascen\u00e7\u00e3o, who is from Venezuela\u2019s capital Caracas, moved to Ireland in 2015. He met his partner Maria Isabel Meza-Silva (30), who grew up in Maracay, a city in northern Venezuela, in Ireland. <\/p>\n

His friends and family in Venezuela were expecting the US to attack Venezuela, given the build-up of US troops in the region, but did not expect it so soon in the new year. <\/p>\n

He said they are in shock at what happened, but happy about Maduro\u2019s removal. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been waiting for something to happen for the last 26 years,\u201d De Ascen\u00e7\u00e3o said, referring to the period since Maduro\u2019s predecessor Hugo Ch\u00e1vez came to power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have lived the protests, elections, general strikes, and we couldn\u2019t do anything against the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

His partner Meza-Silva is sceptical about President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s claim that the US will \u201crun the country\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cVenezuela hasn\u2019t been run by Venezuelans in a really long time. In terms of the oil, it has been going to China, Russia, or Iran. So it hasn\u2019t benefited Venezuela,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cVenezuela is years behind Europe or any other country in Latin America in terms of infrastructure. We have been asking for help, for support, and no one has listened. Now something has happened. I know it\u2019s not ideal. It gives us a bit of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liliana Fernandez (35) felt she had no choice but to leave Venezuela for Ireland, in 2013. At university, as a student representative for an opposition party, she said she was subjected to constant threats by supporters of Maduro\u2019s regime. <\/p>\n

\"LilianaLiliana Fernandez believes that respect for the rules-based world order and international legislation, which many are criticising Donald Trump for breaching, should be seen in light of daily human rights violations she says occur in Venezuela. Photograph Nick Bradshaw\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

She said it was \u201csuper scary\u201d that Trump was \u201cusing our backyard as a playground\u201d.<\/p>\n

She believes respect for the rules-based world order and international legislation, which many are criticising Trump for breaching, should be seen in light of the daily human rights violations she says occur in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Irish Times view on Trump and Venezuela: The principle of \u2018might is right\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one talks about the suffering and misery that our people have carried for years, especially since oil prices plunged in 2014. People do not see how we are so desperate that even this is an option for us,\u201d Fernandez said. <\/p>\n

The Venezuelans in Ireland are concerned over Trump\u2019s claim about how the country will be run by the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one wants to be ruled by a different country,\u201d De Ascen\u00e7\u00e3o said.<\/p>\n

He believes Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez and Maria Corina Machado are \u201cthe visible face of the opposition\u201d and hopes \u201cthe real election results from 2024 are respected\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fernandez fears the transition will be difficult, given that members of Maduro\u2019s regime are embedded in Venezuela\u2019s economy and institutions. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll public institutions are ruled by people from the same political party,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ortiz is concerned many politicians have been able to enrich themselves while in power through corruption, and are unlikely to give up their positions easily. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve getting rich off it. In Venezuela you only see Ferraris when you see those in power,\u201d Ortiz said. <\/p>\n

\"CarmenCarmen Parada Ortiz is concerned that many politicians in Venezuela have been able to enrich themselves while in power through corruption, and thus are unlikely to give up their positions easily. Photograph Nick Bradshaw\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

Despite his concerns about the situation in his home country, De Ascen\u00e7\u00e3o, who hasn\u2019t been to Venezuela for eight years, hopes to return some day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something that Venezuelans around the world, we\u2019re never going to lose \u2013 like the hope to come back to our country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Venezuelans living in Ireland are feeling cautiously optimistic in the wake of the seizing of the country\u2019s president…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[969,61,60,43,92550,115,92549],"class_list":["post-228692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-donald-trump","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-united-states","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}