In Santiago, in the eight-block “little Caracas”, initial celebrations with car horns, shouts and reggaeton music, had calmed.
Alexander Leal, 66, who arrived with his wife in 2018, expressed hope as he sold homemade ice cream in the southern hemisphere summer. His family is scattered across the globe, some in the United States, others in Europe and four siblings still in Venezuela. He dreams of returning one day.
“It won’t be this year, but maybe it will be next year,” he said. “That is everyone’s aspiration, that the country is fixed.” He said Trump’s help would be necessary.
Yessica Mendoza, a 27-year-old Uber driver and mother, knows that she is one of the thousands of undocumented immigrants in Kast’s sights, but she plans stick it out. “Returning is not an option.”
MODERATING HOPE
Venezuela’s neighbour, Colombia, has received more Venezuelans than any other country and has largely been applauded for its efforts to help them settle, like an offer of 10-year residency permits.
A close security ally of the United States, Colombia is navigating a tense moment in its relationship with the US under President Gustavo Petro, who has sparred with Trump and at times been the target of his ire.
Ángel Bruges, a 54-year-old Venezuelan who has lived in Bogota for six years with his wife and daughter and runs an empanada business there, expressed gratitude for Colombia’s hospitality. He said he did not celebrate Maduro’s capture and is well aware of the fear his relatives still in Venezuela live with. “Returning would be crazy,” he said.
Back in Peru, Torres, the graphic designer, was measuring her expectations.
It has been four years since she left Venezuela. She hoped for the possibility of returning for long visits with her family there some day. But for now, she talks of how “marvellous” Peru is as she fields orders for more T-shirts featuring her country’s deposed president, telling people that if she does not have what they want, she will make it.
Source: CNA
