Venezuelans around the world took to the streets following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, whose rule was marked by an economic collapse and mass migration from the oil-rich country.
Venezuelans in Miami, Florida, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Madrid, Spain, wore Venezuela’s national colors and waved flags, hours after President Donald Trump announced that Maduro and his wife had flown out of the country following an overnight US military operation.
In Miami, Venezuelans danced and cheered, while celebrations also took place outside Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. In Doral, Florida, revelers sang “freedom” and draped Venezuelan flags over their shoulders.
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Venezuelans celebrate the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro outside Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, January 3, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Outside the El Arepazo restaurant, a center of Doral’s Venezuelan culture, a man held a piece of cardboard with “Libertad” scrawled on it in black marker. It was a sentiment expressed by other native Venezuelans hoping for a new beginning for their homeland as they chanted “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” chanted.
“We’re just like everyone else — it’s a combination of feelings, of course,” Alejandra Arrieta, who came to the U.S. in 1997, told The Associated Press.
‘There are fears. There is excitement,” he said. “We have waited so many years for this. Something had to be done in Venezuela. We all need freedom.”
A child holds a sign reading “Somos Libres” (“We Are Free”) during a rally in Santiago, Chile, on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump said US forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following a military operation (Sebastián Vivallo Oñate/Agencia Makro/Getty Images)
Ecstatic crowds also gathered in Santiago, Chile, where a child held a sign reading “Somos Libres,” meaning “We are Free.”
The demonstrations reflected the size of the Venezuelan diaspora, which has grown dramatically during Maduro’s years in power, as millions of people fled what critics described as a period of economic collapse marked by hyperinflation and widespread food shortages.
About 8 million people have fled Venezuela since 2017, making it one of the world’s largest displacement crises, according to the report. UN refugee agency.
Venezuelans in Peru celebrate in Miguel de Cervantes Park near the Venezuelan Embassy in Lima on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump said US forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following attacks on Venezuela. (Connie France/AFP via Getty Images)
More than 6.9 million Venezuelans currently reside in Latin American and Caribbean countries, while hundreds of thousands more live in the United States and Europe, where diaspora communities have remained politically active and deeply involved in events back home.
People celebrate in Madrid, Spain, on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump said the United States attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. (REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura)
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People hold Venezuelan and American flags as they react on the streets of Miami, Florida, on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump said the United States attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)
Maduro has been in power since 2013, when he succeeded longtime Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez after Chávez’s death. He presided over a period marked by economic decline, political unrest and mass migration.
Not all reactions to the American action were festive.
People react on the streets of Miami, Florida, on January 3, 2026, after President Donald Trump said the US had attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)
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Protests for and against the strikes are planned in Buenos Aires and other cities in the region, underscoring deep divisions over Venezuela’s future and Washington’s role in the crisis.
In Greece, members of the Greek Communist Party demonstrated against the imprisonment of Maduro.
