{"id":304040,"date":"2026-07-23T19:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/304040\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T19:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:46:09","slug":"for-these-exiled-venezuelan-new-yorkers-maduros-capture-marked-the-first-step-on-a-long-road-toward-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/304040\/","title":{"rendered":"For these exiled Venezuelan New Yorkers, Maduro\u2019s capture marked the first step on a long road toward justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Protesters both for and against deposed Venezuelan despot Nicolas Maduro convened outside the Manhattan federal courthouse on Wednesday as a hearing took place to decide the date of the former dictator\u2019s narcoterrorism trial.<\/p>\n

Some of those gathered on Pearl Street said they opposed the capture and trial of Maduro due to the Trump administration\u2019s use of military force to apprehend him in January.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Venezuelans who fled Maduro\u2019s government described his capture in starkly different terms: a long-delayed first step toward accountability.\n<\/p>\n

Wendell Oviedo, a Venezuelan LGBTQ+ rights activist living in Queens, fled to New York in 2016 after receiving repeated threats connected to his advocacy work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe persecution got very hard,\u201d Oviedo said. \u201cWe were in a very, very bad situation, and I had to flee the country without rights, leaving everything behind \u2014 my organization, my family, my job, everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oviedo said the threats intensified while Venezuelan authorities failed to investigate them or provide protection.
\n\"Protesters<\/a>Protesters both for and against deposed Venezuelan despot Nicolas Maduro were seen outside the Manhattan federal courthouse.Photo by Jack Bulik\n<\/p>\n

When U.S. forces captured Maduro in January and brought him to New York to face federal charges, Oviedo said he believed there might finally be accountability for abuses committed under his government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like, finally, something is different,\u201d Oviedo said. \u201cThat\u2019s how we see it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Maduro\u2019s capture may represent progress toward accountability, Oviedo said, but Venezuelans still face a long road before experiencing meaningful change.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be justice for Maduro,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there are still a lot of people who need to be in jail.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Oviedo remains in contact with his father and other relatives living in Venezuela, although he said frequent power outages have made communication increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can feel his frustration,\u201d Oviedo said. \u201cWith his salary, he can buy a bag of rice. That\u2019s it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Oviedo said Venezuelans who publicly oppose the government risk being labeled \u201cterrorists\u201d and targeted by authorities.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants to protest, but he sees that if he protests, he could be put in jail,\u201d Oviedo said of his father.\n<\/p>\n

That fear did not disappear with Maduro\u2019s capture, said Niurka Melendez, co-founder and co-director of Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid (VIA).\n<\/p>\n

Melendez said Venezuelans who were forced to leave the country carry the history of Maduro\u2019s government with them and need to witness accountability.
\n\"Protesters<\/a>Protesters both for and against deposed Venezuelan despot Nicolas Maduro were seen outside the Manhattan federal courthouse.Photo by Jack Bulik\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s baggage that we carry,\u201d Melendez said. \u201cWe need to see that \u2014 at least to witness that kind of process.\u201d<\/p>\n

A conviction would be \u201ca really important step,\u201d she said, but it would not provide a complete solution while Rodriguez\u2019s government remains in power and armed pro-government groups known as colectivos continue to operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to face justice, too,\u201d Melendez said. \u201cThis is a long road, and we cannot pretend that capturing Maduro is a magic solution.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Like Oviedo, Melendez said she had been waiting for those in power to be held accountable for years and felt that the international community had neglected Venezuela.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are like a child without any kind of family, any kind of parents,\u201d Melendez said. \u201cWe are a civil society totally alone.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Melendez also said American pro-Maduro activists do not speak for Venezuelans who fled the country.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHave they not learned yet what is happening in my country and prefer to put their ideology over people?\u201d Melendez asked.\n<\/p>\n

As Maduro\u2019s supporters protested outside the courthouse, Melendez stood with other Venezuelan counterprotesters. She held a sign that read, \u201cLos crimenes no pueden quedar impunes,\u201d or, in English, \u201cCrimes cannot go unpunished.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Protesters both for and against deposed Venezuelan despot Nicolas Maduro convened outside the Manhattan federal courthouse on Wednesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,24,11,10,15862,613,4648,7318,5944],"class_list":["post-304040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-pm-newsletter","tag-protests","tag-venezuela","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}