DORAL, Fla. — Hundreds of Venezuelans gathered in Doral early Saturday morning after finding out that the U.S. had captured Nicolas Maduro.
The group cheered outside the popular El Arepazo restaurant to celebrate the news – a location that has become the Mecca for Venezuelans speaking out against injustices in their country for decades.
One man named Edgar was among those celebrating.
He told Local 10’s Gabrielle Arzola that he arrived in the U.S. at age 11 after being born and raised in Venezuela.
“Tell me, why did you want to be out here?” Arzola asked Edgar.
“Well, OK, before I begin, I just want to talk to you, America, and I hope you have your coffee when I tell you this, but these are great news -- all eyes on Venezuela. These are historical news. This is history in the making,” Edgar said. “I mean, my chest, it feels like it’s gonna explode with joy because … I mean, before I was even born, there have been struggles that my family has been fighting for so many years before I was even here -- they have told me about it.”
“They told me about a time where democracy existed and now I can finally look forward to that and that’s just everything, everything that I can ask for and, you know, I just want to tell you people, America, Venezuelans are good people, the greatest people that I know,” he added.
“I can vouch for them. We are good,” Edgar continued. “We are working hard, and this, this is our -- like President Donald Trump and Maria Corina Machado just created an opportunity for us to begin working harder than ever because that’s what we have always been doing, but now we will be working in our country.
“But, you know, we also have worked so hard here in the United States to build so much things, and I just want to thank you, America. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to work.”
Edgar, who had a Venezuelan flag draped around his shoulders, actually wore the flag around him for his college graduation at the University of Florida just to show how much love there is for this country that has gone through so much for so long.
Outside El Arepazo, people were dancing and cheering.
In the past when there have been so many issues, they would cheer, “Si, se puede, si, se puede,” which means, “yes, we can,” and on Saturday they were cheering, “Si, se pudo,” or “yes, we did it.”
But even with this news, Edgar says there is still some uncertainty about how Venezuelans move forward.
“I plead, America, again, I plead for you for mercy for us Venezuelans, people such as me. You know, I have been here almost my whole life, all of my youth, and I do believe that the future of Venezuelans is in Venezuela, but I also think that some of us and some people here also want to continue working here in the United States, building a beautiful nation,” Edgar said. “Well, Doral, I mean, it’s -- this is the stronghold of Venezuelans, and it’s a beautiful city. I recommend everybody to come here to Doral! I recommend everybody, if you’re Venezuelan, everyone, come down here to El Arepazo -- come celebrate with us!”
“We love everybody because you, America, have loved us so much, so much. Thank you, America,” Edgar added.
Sixteen-year-old Emily Tovar told Local 10’s Jolena Esperto that she arrived at El Arepazo at 6 a.m. to celebrate the news of Maduro’s capture.
“You don’t understand like the feeling that I have right now because I haven’t been there in so long. I really miss being there. I miss my family. I want to see them. But what is happening right now, like, I’m so happy that it’s happening because they need to, they really needed to take down the president,” she said.
“They need to take out, Padrino, that’s Vladimir, and also, Diosdado (Cabello). They need to take him down. Those two are the ones who we need to take them down right now,” Tovar added.
Venezuelan-Americans in South Florida have said they’re so happy for the freedom that they experience here and they just hope that freedom translates into their home country.
People from other South American countries, including Colombia, Chile and Cuba, also joined the celebrations, waving their flags in solidarity. Many participants FaceTimed relatives in Venezuela to ensure they were safe.
Certainly, many hard parts are still on the way, but they’re saying now is finally a step in the right direction that they’ve all been waiting for for so long.
Countless people in the crowd Saturday were seen Face-Timing their family members from Venezuela, checking up on them as we still don’t know if there were any causalities as a result of the strikes.
Thankfully, all of the Face-Times have been answered so far.
And while there are a lot of things we still don’t know, overall in Doral, the sentiment is hope.
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