KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Venezuelan leaders in Central Florida are sharing that they want to give people hope following the arrest of deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

What You Need To Know

Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was arrested less than a week ago and is facing charges alongside wife Cilia Flores

Vente Venezuela Orlando, which aligns with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, said it wants to stand as a form of support for Venezuelans in Central Florida

Corina Machado is the founder of Vente Venezuela

Venezuelan leaders in Florida want legal relief and asylum granted to those who have left Venezuela during Maduros’s presidency, as immigration applications are still paused for Venezuelans in the U.S.

Vente Venezuela Orlando, which aligns with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, said it wants to stand as a form of support for Venezuelans in Central Florida.

“First of all, is to keep the faith. We have a strong faith that all of the change is going to happen. It’s happening now,” Vente Venezuela Orlando Coordinator Jose Arellano said. “We continue to promote the leadership of our leader, Maria Corina Machado, along with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the president elected on July 28 last year, to be there to support the all of that effort that they have made in for the freedom of Venezuela.”

Arellano said it’s a passion of his to unite not only Venezuelans but Latinos in Central Florida. He is working in partnership with other leaders, such as Foreign Legal Consultant in Venezuelan International Law Vicente Rafael Perez Carreno.

“We could never forget that there is there was an election on July 28, 2024. OK. Where the sovereign, the people decided in the election that the president is Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia,” Perez Carreno said.

Perez Carreno said it will take a long time to restore what he said has been taken from many Venezuelans.

“There’s a lot of feelings of people that is happy but hopeless at the same time,” Perez Carreno said. “We have 27 years with that government, with that regime. Finally, we have the head out of the country, but as you know, there are more people with the regime in Venezuela.”

The ongoing pause on immigration applications for people from Venezuela continues, and Perez Carreno said Venezuelans who are seeking asylum are being put in a serious spot.

“I think it’s really important that this government, through the Department of Homeland Security, think about a measure, a relief, a legal relief that allowed the Venezuelan community, the Venezuelan people in the U.S. stay legally,” Perez Carreno said.

He said it is important for Venezuelans seeking legal guidance and asylum in Florida to be connected to organizations like Casa de Venezuela, which Perez Carreno is affiliated with.