In the early morning of the past January 3hours before the news around the world began to broadcast images of military headquarters in Caracas burning and of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, walking handcuffed, the phones of many Venezuelans residing in Spain They were already a hive of calls and messages.
“At 6 a.m. a friend who lives in North Carolina woke me up, yelling: They are attacking Caracas! My first reaction was panic, thinking about my family,” he says. Camila Andrea Gomeza 24-year-old Venezuelan who has been living in Madrid for two years. “When I opened my eyes I had 100 messages on my cell phone and I quickly thought: what had to happen has finally happened,” he says. Adriana Rubial, 51-year-old Venezuelan with 20 years of residence in Barcelona.
Between sleep and wakefulness, Mari Carmen Clavet As he woke up, he watched the videos of the bombings that accumulated in his WhatsApp groups, recorded by his friends and family, and later Maduro’s photo boarding a US Army helicopter. “It was all so incredible that it was difficult for me to accept that it was true, I was shocked“, confesses this 23-year-old Venezuelan who emigrated to Spain in 2023.
In September 2024, Camila, Adriana and Mari Carmen, together with Jairo Fernández, Liliana Rosales and Mario José RigoVenezuelans residing in Spain like them, participated in a report by EL PERIÓDICO in which they gave testimony and analysis to the sensation of uncertainty and expectation that the migrant community arriving from the Caribbean country lived in those days, a few weeks after elections had been held that the opposition claimed to have won, but whose victory was denied by the Government. The six shared at that time a similar conviction that the elections of the July 28 had been the final blow to Chavismo, even though Nicolás Maduro refused to show the minutes, but it made them distrust the regime’s proven ability to resist in powerwhich in the following months became evident again.
failed attempts
“That’s why, on January 3, my first reaction was of blockage, of doubt, of not knowing what to think or feel. We Venezuelans, especially those of us who have had to emigrate, have witnessed so many failed attempts at change in our country and we are so accustomed to disappointments, that in the first hours it was difficult for us to believe that this time it was serious,” confesses Mario José Rigo. That morning he had a family trip that he didn’t want to cancel, but throughout the day he didn’t leave his cell phone behind. “I couldn’t stop them from jumping me the tears at various times,” acknowledges this 30-year-old systems engineer, who has lived in Madrid for six years.
Mario José Rigo Cárdenas, Venezuelan emigrant / .
Venezuelans, especially those of us who have had to emigrate, have witnessed so many failed attempts at change in our country and we are so accustomed to disappointments that in the first hours it was difficult for us to believe that this time it was serious.
Since that day, Venezuelans residing in Spain claim to be living “a rollercoaster of emotions.” It is an important community, and also on the rise. In January 2025, the National Institute of Statistics had censuses in our country 692,000 people born in Venezuelaalmost half of them arrived in the last five years (in 2020 there were 380,000), and with a marked upward progression: in the first three quarters of last year, they settled in Spain another 65,000 Venezuelans. The majority have arrived fleeing the living conditions and lack of freedom in their country and do not have a favorable opinion of the regime that forced them to pack your bags That’s why, after the restlessness of the first few hours, everyone talks about “joy and reasons for celebration.”
“Everything is still very uncertain, but these days I am allowing myself enjoy happiness to know that Maduro is no longer in power, and to get excited thinking that the friends and family that I left there will soon be able to live in freedom and progress,” he says. Mari Carmen Clavet. She arrived with her partner, young like her, and combines some minor jobs with the internship she is doing at a radio station, her true vocation. At the moment he is not considering returning to his country, but Jairo Fernandez It does have identified “dozens of Venezuelans” who since January 3 have begun to think about returning.
Maricarmen Clavet Álvarez Pérez, Venezuelan emigrant / .
These days I am allowing myself to enjoy the happiness of knowing that Maduro is no longer in power, and to get excited thinking that the friends and family that I left there will soon be able to live in freedom and progress.
A computer scientist by profession with 25 years of residence in Spain, Fernández created an association -Gente Plus- in 2020 to help your countrymen who arrived in our country without knowing which window to go to to regularize their situation and, half jokingly, half seriously, he says that he still has to redesign it to guide to those who decide to return and start business there. “For the nine million Venezuelans who live outside our country, these days are being happiness and euphoria“, he assures.
Jairo Fernández, Venezuelan resident in Spain, in Torre Jussana / Irene
For the nine million Venezuelans who live outside our country, these days are being one of happiness and euphoria.
This unanimous joy contrasts with the doubts raised by the way in which it occurred. the fall of Maduro: with the intervention of a military force exterior and his subsequent bringing to justice in a foreign country. Venezuelans who have emigrated to Spain are aware of this circumstance, but the idea of “a Venezuela without Chavismo” It leads them to fervently applaud the operation.
Responsible mature
“The citizens of my country should not have been subjected to seeing how a foreign army He entered the country to get rid of a tyrant. We already threw him out in the July 2024 elections, but Maduro stole them from us. He is responsible for reaching this point,” he says. Adriana Rubial. “On this occasion, the end justifies the means,” he adds. Jairo Fernandez.
Adriana Rubial, Venezuelan resident in Barcelona / Marc Asensio
The citizens of my country should not have been subjected to watching a foreign army enter the country to get rid of a tyrant. We already kicked him out in the July 2024 elections, but Maduro stole them from us. He is responsible for reaching this point.
“It was we who should have put an end to Chavismo in power, but how many attempts did we make at the polls, in the streets, risking our necks, with thousands of meetings and negotiations that ended in nothing,” he laments. Liliana Rosalesa 59-year-old Venezuelan journalist who has lived in Tarragona for two decades, who is very critical of the reproaches she has read and heard these days in a multitude of forums and gatherings for the violation of international law perpetrated by the US command that captured Maduro.
Lilian Rosales, Venezuelan resident in Barcelona / .
It was we who should have put an end to Chavismo in power, but how many attempts we made at the polls, in the streets, risking our lives, with thousands of meetings and efforts that ended in nothing.
“They worry about our sovereignty now, but no one cared about us when they extorted us Chavista groups capable of robbing you with impunity on the street of money that, perhaps, had been sent there by a Venezuelan emigrant working as a delivery man in Spain. Should international law take precedence over human rights?” asks the journalist.
Trump’s manifest interest in Venezuelan oil It does not cause special discomfort in the migrant community. “Oil? We Venezuelans have not benefited from it for decades. To give it to Cuba or China, better let the Americans take it in exchange for taking away Chavismo,” he says Camila Gomez. “If that is the price for achieving our freedom, we will be happy to pay it,” he adds. ruby.
Camila Andrea Gómez, Venezuelan emigrant / .
Oil? We Venezuelans have not benefited from it for decades. To give it to Cuba or China, it is better for the Americans to take it in exchange for taking away Chavismo
The disdain shown by the US president towards the Venezuelan opposition generates more discomfort, but “the dream come true“Seeing Maduro behind bars eclipses everything. “Delcy Rodríguez is a passing puppet,” he analyzes Mari Carmen Clavet about the figure who has been left in charge of the country.
However, Venezuelans living in Spain are aware that the political transition has not started yet, and that in the coming days they will have to continue watching the news and their mobile phones, although now they do it with a smile on their faces.
“When we see Maria Corina Machado oa Edmundo Gonzalez in the Miraflores palace, it will be the sign that the change has occurred. That day, millions of Venezuelans will begin their journey back home,” predicts Jairo Fernández.
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