Throngs of Venezuelans around the world took to the streets Saturday and Sunday to celebrate the news President Donald Trump had ordered an operation to arrest socialist longtime dictator Nicolás Maduro, whose name became synonymous with starvation, torture, and exile.
President Trump announced early on Saturday morning that he had approved a special military operation to aid the Department of Justice in arresting Maduro and his wife, “first combatant” Cilia Flores, on a litany of criminal charges in the United States. American officials, and law enforcement throughout Latin America, have for years documented evidence that Maduro was in charge of the Cartel de los Soles, an intercontinental cocaine trafficking operation run through the Venezuelan military. The cartel is so named for the sun medallions that Venezuelan soldiers wear on their uniforms.
Maduro and Flores were reportedly apprehended in the Miraflores Palace of Caracas and swiftly transported to New York, where they will face charges. The U.S. government has since published footage of Maduro in New York. Attorney General Pam Bondi published an indictment indicating that Maduro is facing charges including “narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices against the United States.”
The news of the demise of Maduro, although his regime remains intact at press time, prompted a deluge of popular celebrations throughout the major population centers in which the nearly 8 million Venezuelans fleeing socialism have relocated. Below, some of the most impactful images of Venezuelans expressing themselves with the freedom Maduro deprived them of at home.
One of the largest celebrations took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the right-wing libertarian government of President Javier Milei enthusiastically applauded President Trump for his actions. Before the Buenos Aires Obelisk, the central plaza of the city, Venezuelans gathered in the hundreds to sing and dance. The Obelisk itself was lit up on Saturday night in the colors of the Venezuelan flag to celebrate Maduro’s capture.
Aserejé Dance Party
During some of the daytime celebrations, a group of Venezuelans performed a coordinated dance to the song “The Ketchup Song (Aserejé),” a Spanish song that became an international hit in 2002.
Local Argentine news coverage highlighted that a small group of leftists attempted to stage a protest in defense of Maduro, but were greatly outnumbered by dancing Venezuelans in the capital.
‘I Saw a Friend of Mine Eating Dog’
The only apparent Venezuelan to stop and the pro-Maduro protest in Buenos Aires appeared on the local network A24 to offer a scathing condemnation of the protest, stating his experience in the country and expressing baffled outrage at the existence of Maduro defenders.
The man, identified on the air as “Jonathan,” stated that he left Venezuela at age 18 “due to traumatic, horrible events.”
“The only thing people ate were mangos,” he recalled. “I saw a friend of mine eating dog – eating dogs over there.”
“It’s incredible, I don’t know why there are people here with Venezuelan flags. Are they Venezuelan? Do you know what happens in Venezuela?” he asked. “It’s like when they have Cuban flags – do you know what happens in Cuba? … Seriously, can you blame – it’s ok, you invent this, capitalism, all this, but it’s incredible that this happens, how can it be that these people are here defending a dictator who has the Helicoide, the largest torture center in Latin America?”
Miami Gas Station Block Party
Outside the Venezuelan restaurant El Arepazo in Doral, a suburb of Miami, Florida, throngs of Venezuelans began organizing before dawn to celebrate. El Arepazo is located at a gas station, lending a surreal backdrop to the festivities, which included dance circles and sing-alongs.
“We don’t even know what to say,” one man to the Miami-based Martí Noticias, “we don’t have the words, we are just very happy that is why we got together here. How long, 20-something years we have with this crap? But until today.”
“How lovely to see that photo,” he continued, referring to the first published photo of Maduro in U.S. custody. “Maybe you see a little rage, a little rancor, but it’s so many years that we have spent of evil with this government that has destroyed so many families, which is why we are in various countries.”
Venezuelans Applaud Former Maduro Prisoner Jorge Ramos
Mexican journalist Jorge Ramos made a stop at El Arepazo to interview those assembled later in the day. While a vocal opponent of the Trump administration in the United States, Ramos has also been consistently critical of Maduro – including to his face when he had the opportunity to interview the dictator in 2019. Maduro arrested Ramos and his crew, claiming he asked inappropriate questions, and released them only after forcing them to delete the footage.
The crowd in Doral took a moment to express appreciation to Ramos, embracing him while calling for freedom not just for Venezuela, but for Cuba and Nicaragua, the other two Marxist dictatorships in the region.
Man with Cane Enters Costa Rica Basilica on His Knees
In a more subdued, but moving, incident at the Basilica de Los Ángeles in Cartago, Costa Rica, worshippers observed a man using a cane entering the basilica draped in a Venezuelan flag, approaching the altar on his knees. According to the local outlet Acontecer, witnesses said the man was engaging in a “gesture of gratitude for the capture of Nicolás Maduro.”
‘What Did You Think the Russians and the Chinese Wanted, the Arepa Recipe?’
In another interview with local media in Argentina, a Venezuelan reveler condemned those who criticized the capture of Maduro, claiming it was a plot to steal Venezuela’s abundant oil.
“I ask them all [fellow Venezuelans] to have faith, don’t let their heads get full of ‘the gringos just want your oil, the gringos just want your riches,'” he suggested. “To those people, I ask: what did they think that the Russians and the Chinese wanted after all this time, the arepa recipe?”
The Chinese Communist Party and the Russian government were two of Maduro’s closest geopolitical allies. China, in particular, benefitted handsomely from that affiliation through the purchase of sanctioned oil from Caracas. Maduro made several financing deals with the Chinese that would allow him to pay back loans in oil.
Trump Doppelgänger Dances ‘YMCA’ in Medellín
Another popular video of festivities on Saturday emerged from the Park of the Lights in Medellín, Colombia. There, too, a crowd of dancing Venezuelans assembled – to be greeted by a man who appeared to be in costume as President Trump, dancing to the Village People hit “YMCA,” known to be one of Trump’s favorite songs.
Venezuelans Clean the Streets After Partying
In Santiago, Chile, local outlet T13 walked the streets previously filled by hundreds of dancing Venezuelans on Sunday to find a small group of Venezuelans with power washers and garbage bags cleaning up the litter and other refuse left behind by the crowd. The Venezuelans told the network it was their way of giving back to the country that had taken them in.
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