A new survey released Wednesday shows that more than 90% of Venezuelans inside the country say they feel grateful to President Donald Trump for removing Nicol\u00e1s Maduro from power on January 3. The development has reverberated across South Florida’s large Venezuelan community.<\/p>\n
The poll, conducted by Caracas\u2011based firm Megan\u00e1lisis, began three days after Maduro’s ouster and surveyed more than 1,000 people across multiple states and cities in Venezuela, with roughly half of respondents identifying as women.<\/p>\n
Survey reflects major political shift<\/p>\n
According to the survey, 92% of Venezuelans said they feel grateful to President Trump for Maduro’s removal \u2014 a dramatic shift after decades of political turmoil under the socialist leader.<\/p>\n
“Venezuelans have been anxious to see change,” said Ruben Chirino, president of Megan\u00e1lisis. He said people grew tired of hearing about international agreements to solve the country’s problems, and Trump “did the opposite.”<\/p>\n
Questions raised about U.S. influence<\/p>\n
Still, when participants were asked whether the United States now controls their country \u2014 a claim President Trump and some allies have made in describing Washington’s role \u2014 about two\u2011thirds of respondents said “no.” Many Venezuelans believe internal forces and remnants of the old regime still hold power, not the United States.<\/p>\n
Oswaldo Gomez, a Venezuelan living in South Florida, echoed that skepticism.<\/p>\n
“They don’t have 100% control of the country because we were well aware of what we have, what kind of regime,” he said, reflecting a widespread belief that the transition remains complex and contested.<\/p>\n
Views split on U.S. priorities<\/p>\n
The survey also asked Venezuelans to weigh U.S. priorities in the country’s future. When given a choice between a U.S. focus on Venezuelan oil versus guaranteeing human rights, a slight majority said oil priorities appear to dominate, while nearly one\u2011third said both goals are equally important.<\/p>\n
Valentina Veroes, who lives in Doral, said she believes the U.S. approach should balance economic recovery with human rights protections.<\/p>\n
“I probably agree, but I think it’s half and half,” Veroes said.<\/p>\n
Gomez said he sees a complex relationship between economics and basic freedoms.<\/p>\n
“Both. I think immigration affects this country, as well as the need for energy. I think it is a win\u2011win relationship that we are looking for,” he said.<\/p>\n
Poll shows strong support for Machado<\/p>\n
The Megan\u00e1lisis poll underscores Venezuelans’ desire for new leadership. When asked who they would support in a presidential election, 78% said they would vote for Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, a prominent opposition leader and international peace prize winner.<\/p>\n
By contrast, 93% said they do not believe Interim President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez is effectively leading Venezuela’s transition, signaling widespread disappointment with the interim administration’s handling of reforms and prisoner releases.<\/p>\n
Internal fractures revealed in responses<\/p>\n
The survey also found that nearly 89% of Venezuelans believe Maduro was betrayed by members of his own government, reflecting deep internal fractures within the former ruling camp.<\/p>\n
Support for stronger ties with the United States remains high. When asked if the U.S. should become Venezuela’s main ally and primary supplier of products, more than 90% said yes, signaling a strong desire for economic partnership and stability after years of crisis.<\/p>\n
Diaspora celebrates political turning point<\/p>\n
The poll mirrors public celebrations among the diaspora in South Florida following Maduro’s arrest. Venezuelans in Doral and Miami took to the streets waving flags and chanting for liberty, marking a moment many described as long\u2011awaited hope after decades of hardship under authoritarian rule.<\/p>\n
As Venezuelan families in South Florida and back home watch how U.S.\u2013Venezuela relations evolve, many say they hope the focus shifts from politics and power to rebuilding the country and restoring freedoms long denied under Maduro’s rule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new survey released Wednesday shows that more than 90% of Venezuelans inside the country say they feel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,2808,2821,3,21,19,22,20,25,24,18232],"class_list":{"0":"post-408038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa","18":"tag-venezuela"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}