‘We’re so happy’: Venezuelans in Utah elated at President Maduro’s removal

SALT LAKE CITY — For more than 25 years, Mayra Molina and others from Venezuela have been waiting and hoping for the fall of the socialist government in the South American country.

On Saturday, following the U.S. operation to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the wee hours of the morning, Molina finally felt a measure of relief. She watched news reports of the unfolding action in the country and has barely slept.

“Everyone is so happy. We’re so happy,” said Molina, who heads the Venezuelan Alliance of Utah, which advocates for the state’s Venezuelan community. “We’re so excited. We’re like relieved that finally Venezuela is getting justice.”

Patricia Quiñónez, who runs a social media operation geared to Utah’s Venezuelan population, Utahzolanos, felt a mix of emotions, mostly elation. The Venezuelan community in Utah, she said, is celebrating.

“It’s a day millions of us Venezuelans have wanted for 25 years,” she said, referencing the election of Hugo Chavez as Venezuela’s president in 1999, when the move to socialism in the country started, continued by Maduro in 2013 when he took over following Chavez’s death. “We feel a mix, euphoria for the fall of the dictator, but at the same time we’re worried about what will happen in Venezuela, with our families and friends who are still there.”

Carlos Moreno, who fled the socialist regime Venezuela in 2009, called the turn of events a miracle. He’s now a U.S. citizen who holds the District 2 seat on the Salt Lake County Council.

“It’s been a beautiful and blessed day in my life,” he said. “It’s a miracle.”

U.S. forces entered Venezuela in the early morning hours of Saturday, removing Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores so they can be brought to the United States and tried on an array of U.S. charges they face here related to drug-trafficking. President Donald Trump said a coalition of U.S. officials and Venezuelan leaders would run Venezuela in the interim until a new, more stable government can be established.

Later Saturday, some from Utah’s Venezuelan community gathered at a parking lot in Midvale where several food trucks offering Venezuelan food operate and celebrated the news. Many had stayed up all night watching developments unfold via news reports.

“Happy, happy,” said Luigi Rojas, who came to the United States from Venezuela three years ago. “President Trump did what he had to do; we’re thankful to him.”

He, like others, said it sometimes seemed like Maduro would never leave power, but he nevertheless held onto hope. “Waiting, waiting, waiting, always waiting. But we never lost the faith,” he said.

Jesis Acosta, now living in West Jordan, was at the Midvale location with Nestor Parra and Pedro Franco, all of them from Venezeula. “My first reaction was to cry, happiness,” Acosta said.

She and Parra couldn’t initially believe the military action was actually happening, then started digging into the news and reaching out to family in Venezuela. Now, Parra said, Trump needs to keep up the pressure so the remnants of Maduro’s government don’t retake power. “If Donald Trump doesn’t stand firm, they’re not going to give up power,” he said.

Jonathan Sab, like Rojas, said he always maintained a reserve of hope that change would eventually occur, a common sentiment in the Venezuelan community. “Many years waiting, 27 years. I never lost hope. I kept my faith alive that the moment would arrive,” he said.

He learned from relatives that the attacks by U.S. forces were focused on Venezuelan military targets and that casualties were limited to Venezuelan military forces, not civilians.

‘Fighting for years for democracy’

At any rate, Molina said she initially felt a measure of unease as the action in Venezuela, including apparent bombing by U.S. forces, unfolded. As the military effort progressed relatively smoothly for U.S. forces, though, her jitters subsided.

Initially seeing the bombing in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, “we were really worried. Then as things developed, I guess we were really happy,” she said. “We knew they were going in for (Maduro). We need to remember, this is not a war against the Venezuelan population. This is a war against the narco and the terrorist people.”

Likewise, Quiñónez noted that diplomatic efforts had been attempted, to no avail, before Saturday’s invasion.

“We’ve been fighting for years for democracy, voting, risking our lives, and the regime remains,” she said, also noting 2024 president elections in Venezuela that many believe were stolen from opposition hopeful Edmundo González Urrutia. “We thought the only way was a military invasion, which is what’s happening now.”

The vast majority of Venezuelans in Venezuela and Utah, as well as Venezuelans around the United States and the world who fled under Maduro, are happy, Molina said. Some 8 million Venezuelans have left the country, around 700,000 of them to the United States. But those in Venezuela aren’t publicly celebrating, not yet anyway.

“They’re not going into the streets yet. Everyone’s in their own homes, protecting each other,” Molina said. “Still some groups from the regime are out there, trying to intimidate this population. But they’re doing OK. My family and I know most of the Venezuelan people are doing OK.”