Some Los Angeles Venezuelans feel optimistic after Nicolás Maduro capture, others express concerns

LOS ANGELES () — Venezuelans living in Los Angeles are sharing different opinions on the capture of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

Unión del Barrio, the Community Self-Defense Coalition and other local organizations hosted a rally on Saturday to condemn President Donald Trump’s invasion and takeover of Venezuela.

At the top of the list of their demands was that the U.S. free Maduro. They called Trump’s threat of the U.S. controlling Venezuela a “psychological war.”

Meanwhile, Eyewitness News spoke to some other Venezuelans who shared a different view. Some explained why they prefer uncertainty over the country’s future compared to Maduro’s rule. Many were optimistic about the future.

“It is uncertain, but whatever happens is going to be better than what it was. That’s what everybody is thinking. Like, nothing can be worse than what they were going through before this happened,” said Venezuelan native Maria Koftayan. “Now we have María Corina Machado. Everybody has their trust in her, and she’s doing great. She just got the Nobel Peace Prize, and she just keeps going, and she is actually doing what she promised. She said, ‘I am going to help Venezuela become free.’ And we see it. It’s not just words; we see actions.”

“I think it was the only option we really had, seeing as Venezuela people are not allowed to own guns or protect themselves, and we couldn’t really fight against them, against the regime in Venezuela,” said Wilkins Salas, who was raised in Venezuela. “So the only option was an intervention from the U.S., so we really support what Donald Trump has done.”

“Why we are so happy? Because we’ve been in jail for so many years. We’ve been, in this country, my country, in Venezuela… there’s no food. He controls everything. We’ve been controlled by these people, not only him,” said Yesika Baker, a Venezuelan native. “We cry because now, somebody does something. This president is the first president to do something. We don’t know what is going to happen, but at least this is the first step. It’s hope for every Venezuelan, this is a hope.”

RELATED: A timeline of the US military’s buildup and strikes against Venezuela leading to Maduro’s capture

Eyewitness News also spoke to Professor Miguel Tinker Salas from Pomona College. He’s also a Venezuelan historian.

“I think there’s a big distinction between those who supported Maduro and those who are against U.S. intervention. There is a strong tendency in Venezuela, a strong trend, a strong position in Venezuela, to be critical of Maduro, to want his ouster, but to be against the U.S. intervention. This creates a wound in Venezuelan society that will not heal overnight,” Tinker Salas said.

“This was an armed incursion, invasion of a country. Let’s not mince words about it. The president can call it whatever he wants. This was an armed invasion of a foreign country by U.S. military forces. They can kidnap a president, but they don’t control the country. The real issue here is, what will be the future of Venezuela? And what is best for Venezuelans?” he said. “Once the party is over, what happens to the country? What happens to the people? What happens to its resources? Who controls them? Venezuela has the largest deposit of oil in the world. I was saying for a long time, ‘This is not about oil.’ Turns out I was wrong. Trump proved me wrong. It is about oil. It is about power. It is about U.S. hegemony. It is about keeping Russia and China out, and that’s what this is about.”