When Cinzia de Santis woke up to the news that Nicolás Maduro had been captured by US troops in a pre-dawn assault on Caracas, she had mixed emotions. “My first reaction was he’s gone, which is kind of good news,” she said. But the manner in which the Venezuelan president and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken to New York to face criminal charges – in a military operation that appears to have little legal or constitutional authority – has sparked concern.
“No one who loves their country is happy to see foreign troops on its land. War and invasions are always a tragedy. That’s my reaction to the way he was removed. But it’s also impossible not to feel relief when you know a system that has been built on fear, hunger, tortures, repression – it begins to collapse,” said the 69-year-old, who is the chair and founder of the charity Healing Venezuela.
She is part of the small but growing Venezuelan community in the UK. The most recent census, in 2021, put the number of Venezuelan-born residents in Britain at over 21,000. “We’re all very shaken and very moved. I hope this next chapter is going to be peaceful,” she said.
De Santis came to the UK 22 years ago after her name was published on the Tascón List in 2004, a list of individuals who had signed a petition to oust then-president Hugo Chávez. It was later used by the government to deny those who had signed access to state jobs and welfare programmes. “In a way, it was a forced exile. I wanted to stay,” she said.
For Alejandro Arenas-Pinto, the news has also been difficult to digest. He has been in touch with family who are still reeling from the situation. “I’m really worried about their wellbeing,” he says. “I think it’s very difficult to justify the methods but it’s very clear to me that the humanitarian crisis that Venezuelans have been living through makes people believe that perhaps this activity from a foreign government is justifiable.”
The 55-year-old doctor added: “If you ask many people in Venezuela about the legality of this, that isn’t their main concern. The main concern is far more existential and far more basic.” While he understands why some may overlook the shocking way Maduro was ousted, he is worried about the future: “We have seen what has happened in countries like Iraq or Libya or Syria – the humanitarian crisis is likely to get worse.”
