{"id":88475,"date":"2026-01-04T01:09:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/88475\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T01:09:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:09:27","slug":"venezuelans-across-globe-celebrate-us-capture-of-nicolas-maduro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/88475\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuelans across globe celebrate US capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venezuelans across the globe celebrated Saturday after the US captured their homeland\u2019s longtime dictator and alleged drug titan<\/a> \u2014 whose repressive regime triggered one of the largest migration crises in recent history.<\/p>\n

Jubilant celebrants took to the streets in the US, South America and Europe in the hours after captured strongman Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife were flown to the states and indicted on a litany of federal charges.<\/p>\n

In the South Florida city of Doral \u2014 home to the largest Venezuelan community in the US \u2013 hundreds have been celebrating in the street since 4 a.m.<\/p>\n

Venezuelans celebrate in Madrid after Trump announced that Nicol\u00e1s Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cLiberty! Liberty! Liberty!\u201d the crowd chanted.<\/p>\n

The crowd gathered outside El Arepazo, a popular restaurant, wrapped in their native country\u2019s flags while banging pots and pans.<\/p>\n

Follow The Post\u2019s live coverage of US strikes on Venezuela and the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a><\/p>\n

The celebrants cried, danced to Venezuelan music and some popped champagne bottles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started crying. I\u2019ve seen my dad cry three times in my life: his dad dying, Fidel dying and today\u2026It\u2019s historic,\u201d one woman told NBC Miami.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited\u2026We are celebrating. Thanks to President Trump and the U.S. military for this perfect operation,\u201d said one man, who expressed hope for the future of Venezuela.<\/p>\n

A third simply said he had \u201cno words\u201d for the monumental moment. <\/p>\n

Doral in South Florida is home to the largest Venezuelan community in the US. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Similar celebrations were taking place in Madrid, Spain as well as in Santiago, Chile \u2014 where revelers raised American flags alongside Venezuelan ones. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are free. We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we have a free country,\u201d said Khaty Yanez, a Venezuelan woman who has spent the last seven years in Chile, told Reuters.<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest on Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s capture:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy joy is too big,\u201d her compatriot Jose Gregorio said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter so many years, after so many struggles, after so much work, today is the day. Today is the day of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Venezuelans in Chile celebrate the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, waving Venezuelan flags and being showered with confetti. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A white car with \u201cFree Venezuela\u201d written on the back window and an arm holding a Venezuelan flag out the passenger window. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Venezuela itself did not have any public celebrations \u2014 security forces patrolled\u00a0largely empty streets\u00a0at dawn in the capital, Caracas, in the wake of the US airstrikes.<\/p>\n

Some people were seen carrying Maduro\u2019s portrait and embracing in the country\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

There has been a major exodus from Venezuela under Maduro\u2019s presidency and the economic collapse his leadership wrought. <\/p>\n

Nearly 8 million people \u2014 or 20% of the population \u2014 have fled the country since 2018 after being unable to afford food.<\/p>\n

Venezuelans celebrate in Lima, Peru, with Venezuelan flags and caps. AP<\/p>\n

Venezuelan citizens gather in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, holding a Venezuelan flag and signs that read \u201cI want to return\u201d and \u201cTo embrace my history.\u201d AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Roughly 85% of those natives migrated to neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the UN\u2019s International Organization for Migration.<\/p>\n

Maduro was indicted on a litany of charges, with federal prosecutors accusing Maduro of leading \u201ca corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maduro allegedly partnered with \u201csome of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world\u201d to bring as much as 250 tons of cocaine into the US by 2020 via go-fast vessels, fishing boats and container ships or via planes from clandestine airstrips, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n

With Post Wires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Venezuelans across the globe celebrated Saturday after the US captured their homeland\u2019s longtime dictator and alleged drug titan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[42435,3640,42436,9,11,10,15862,2208,42364,7318,1076],"class_list":["post-88475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-chile","tag-florida","tag-maduro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-spain","tag-us-capture-of-nicolas-maduro","tag-venezuela","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88475","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=88475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}