3.1.2025
Venezuelan migrants around the world erupted in celebration on Saturday following the U.S.-led deposition of President Nicolas Maduro, whose government prompted one of the largest migration crises in recent history.
Chants celebrating Maduro’s capture were heard in the streets of Chile’s capital, where Venezuelans gathered to share their joy.
“We are free. We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we have a free country,” said Khaty Yanez, a Venezuelan woman who has spent the last seven years in Chile.
“My joy is too big,” her compatriot Jose Gregorio said. “After so many years, after so many struggles, after so much work, today is the day. Today is the day of freedom.”
Since 2014, some 7.7 million Venezuelans or 20% of the population have left the country unable to afford food or seeking better opportunities abroad, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration.
Neighboring Colombia has received the largest share of the diaspora, around 2.8 million, followed by 1.7 million in Peru, according to the R4V platform, a group of regional NGOs assisting migrants and refugees from Venezuela set up by the U.N. migration agency.
For years, the U.S. was a haven for Venezuelans but in President Donald Trump’s second term many are being branded criminals and forced to seek refuge elsewhere.
Trump who posted a photo of the dictator in handcuffs said the US will run the country till a stable government was put in place. Reuters