In mid-February, hundreds of students from Venezuela’s most prestigious university carried out a gesture that seemed unthinkable until then: a protest left the campus of the Central University of Venezuela, in Caracas, and took to a nearby street, symbolizing a new phase of social mobilization in the country.
Before the US-led military operation, off-campus student activism was a high-risk act in Venezuela.
Remaining within the university offered some protection; Those protesting in the streets ran the risk of being beaten, detained or facing more serious consequences.
International organizations, such as the United Nations, had reported cases of torture against detainees in the country, including electric shocks and sleep deprivation.
Therefore, when the students, marching alongside families of people imprisoned by the Maduro government, left the campus chanting “free everyone”, the action was seen as a clear act of defiance to the climate of fear that had prevailed for years.
“I was born in 2003 and all I knew was fear… until today,” Paola Carrillo, 22 years old and a member of the student union, told the crowd attending the protest. “We are fighting for the freedom we want.”
About a decade ago, Venezuelan university students — many of them waving flags or injured after clashes with security forces — were protagonists of large anti-government protests.
But these demonstrations diminished in the face of strong state repression, including arrests of students and teachers and the actions of armed groups aligned with the ruling party, which left hundreds dead.
The serious economic crisis also forced many young people to leave the classroom to look for work, weakening the student movement.
Now, however, a new generation of activists has returned to the streets. Ten students from four universities in the country told Reuters they see real hope after Maduro’s fall — even though parts of the former government remain in positions of power — and say they feel safer expressing themselves than at any other time in recent memory.
Aged between 22 and 27, these young people have only known the socialist government of “Chavismo”, a movement associated with former president Hugo Chávez, who has been in power since 1999.
“I’ve never been part of anything like this before, and I think now is the time, even though it’s scary,” said Carrillo, who is in his final year of law school and was just a teenager during the last big wave of student protests.
She stated that her goal is to encourage others to participate in the protests, so that anyone who feels like her knows that “they have a voice and that there are other people who think the same and are still fighting.”
The Venezuelan Ministry of Communication, responsible for official government communications, and the Public Ministry did not respond to requests for comment for this report.
Confronting Delcy Rodríguez on the streets
The students claim that the agenda of demands goes far beyond the release of political prisoners: they call for the repeal of laws against hate speech and terrorism that they consider instruments of oppression, free and fair elections, and what they call “reinstitutionalization” — the reconstruction of state institutions that they say were destroyed by the socialist party.
They also demand bigger budgets for universities and salary increases for teachers, who receive about $4 a month.
Miguelangel Suarez, 26, president of the student federation at the Central University of Venezuela, became confrontational after his participation in an event on campus in January, a moment that spread widely on Venezuelan social media.
“I told the group: Look, I’m going to confront Delcy Rodríguez. About 20 others stood up and decided we’re going with you. That says a lot about how the paradigm has changed since January 3,” said Suarez, referring to the increase in student confidence after Maduro’s fall.
Rodríguez, a 56-year-old lawyer who also graduated from the Central University of Venezuela, rarely gives interviews or answers questions, mainly participating in pro-government events.
“She said we weren’t letting her speak. On the contrary, we were — and still are — willing to dialogue,” said Suarez, who is set to graduate in December with a degree in political and administrative studies. “As a graduate and someone with important responsibilities, she should come and talk to us about the many problems universities face.”
Although students are against the current government, many are not directly involved in opposition parties and have not yet focused their attention on the elections promised by the United States.
According to Carlos Melendez, sociologist and director of the Universities Observatory, around 1.3 million students are eligible to vote — a bloc that could be crucial in future electoral disputes in a country of around 28 million inhabitants.
“We are seeing a group of students who not only want to study, but also engage in the country’s political agenda,” said Melendez, noting that student participation is “a reaction to the government and its policies, as they seek to drive democratic restoration.”
“No one wants their country to be bombed”
Students in several regions of Venezuela expressed gratitude for Maduro’s departure, but expressed caution toward the United States and said they wished his overthrow had occurred through different means.
Maikel Carracedo, 27, a law student at the University of Zulia in Maracaibo, said he learned of the American military operation to remove Maduro when he was woken up by a phone call from a friend saying: “They are invading Caracas!”
“The first thing I did was have a cup of coffee. My first free coffee,” said Carracedo, describing the moment he became aware of the troops’ advance.
Despite the excitement of seeing the possible end of the Chavista era and the hope of reconstruction, Carracedo and other students expressed discomfort with the way the change happened.
“We really hoped that change would come in a much more democratic and peaceful way,” he said. “Nobody wants their country to be bombed or attacked, but that’s what happened. Most people weren’t hurt, it was surgical. And I’m genuinely happy because the dictator’s departure was quite significant.”
Paola Carrillo, a student leader in Caracas, reinforced that, in general, young Venezuelans “would have preferred to get to this point in another way”.
“Deep down there is frustration that we haven’t been able to do this for ourselves and that circumstances and the regime have brought us to a point where someone else has had to do it for us,” she said.
“In addition, there is practically an indirect administration by a third country over our country and, especially, over our resources.”
United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly praised him for stabilizing Venezuela after Maduro’s removal, as well as his actions to open the country to interests in the oil and mining sector.
Maduro has always denied accusations of dictatorship and stated that he was fairly elected for a third term in 2024, an allegation rejected by the opposition and international observers, who claim that the opposition coalition candidate won with a wide margin.
From student to prisoner and back again
For some young people, the release of detainees was personal and transformative. Jose Castellanos, 22, an Economics student at Lisandro Alvarado University in the state of Lara, was arrested in October 2025 and spent almost four months in prison on charges of terrorism, incitement to hatred and treason — charges he denies.
Authorities said he had hung a banner reading “Freedom… is happening” on a university building.
Castellanos was arrested along with his brother, who studies Communications and works as a reporter, and their mother — all of whom were also released in the following weeks.
“Being in prison made me mature. It gave me more courage and strength to fight for the country’s freedom and democracy,” Castellanos told Reuters during a march in Barquisimeto in February.
“We will continue peacefully on the streets, with the truth on our side, demanding our rights as Venezuelans.”
According to student leader Suarez, at least two students from the Central University of Venezuela and two teachers were also released in February. Among them is Jesus Armas, professor, human rights activist and member of the opposition, arrested in December 2024 and accused of terrorism — an accusation he also denies.
Luigi Lombardo, 26, an Education student at the University of Carabobo, described the experience as a personal transition.
“We’re basically going from feeling uncertain and afraid to speak out to feeling more free,” he said. According to him, Maduro’s capture symbolizes “the end for us of a long and painful era”.
Lombardo highlighted that this freedom includes being able to express what you feel and openly debate issues such as university financing, increasing student grants and decent salaries for teachers, something that was practically impossible before.
“Now there is space to express this discontent… and understand that the country is moving towards reconciliation,” he said.
