U.S. military forces conducted a strike targeting the guarded presidential residence in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 3, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as part of an operation to take them into custody due to longstanding criminal charges.
Maduro’s presidency came to an end after nearly 13 years, and he is now being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, facing federal charges. The development has sparked many strong opinions worldwide, particularly among Latino communities.
Several FGCU Latin American students have expressed mixed feelings about the capture and U.S. involvement in the region. Due to the nature of the event, they have requested to remain anonymous.
“He was a horrible person, horrible leader, he was responsible for a lot of human rights violations,” one of the students said.
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Though she has these strong feelings toward Maduro, she also believes that our country’s government should prioritize Americans.
“Coming from the perspective of a Hispanic person I’m happy, but I also can’t help but feel like I want our government to focus on its own people,” she said. “Why would I want to spend my taxpayer money on side quests versus giving back to people with limited resources here?”
Other FGCU students voiced their full support for Maduro’s removal from power as a long-awaited, necessary step toward political change and a more hopeful future for Venezuela.
“The Venezuelan people deserve better and more, I can’t imagine all of the hardships they had to face throughout,” said another FGCU student. “No one should have to go through the struggle of affording basic human needs or having to be silenced for speaking their own thoughts, that should be basic human rights.”
According to the Department of Justice, “leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust,” and say it is a “corrupt, illegitimate government.” It accuses the government of Venezuela of being linked to drug trafficking, electoral fraud, economic mismanagement and human rights violations under Maduro’s rule.
“Seeing a foreign president captured and taken here to America is something I never thought I’d witness, but I’m not mad at it,” another student said. “I’ve seen a ton of videos online of other Hispanics praising his removal, and I could not agree more, especially if Venezuelans themselves are joyful, it makes me certain that his removal was for the best.”
While reactions among FGCU students vary, Maduro remains in U.S. custody, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is moving forward with preparations for a three-phase plan to help rebuild Venezuela.