On January 3rd, the U.S. military launched an attack on Venezuela, resulting in one of the most awaited moments for the Venezuelan people, with Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela since 2003, being captured and forced to leave the country. The reason for this? Still unclear, but what’s widely known is that Maduro is responsible for Venezuela’s incredible economic decline, and the president is now being charged with narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking in New York.
This invasion caused controversy, as some people believe the only reason President Trump did this was because of Venezuela’s resources. But Venezuelans argue that there is not really something that Trump could benefit from by taking control of their country, as Venezuela doesn’t really have anything valuable left.
A Venezuelan student whose name will stay anonymous said in response to this, “What else can the US take from us? Because let’s be clear, Venezuela has nothing left.”
When asking him about what he thought about people being mad at Trump for attacking Venezuela, and because some argue that it’s weird to be celebrating when your country was being invaded, he responded by saying, “We are not happy about being bombed, we are happy that Venezuela was free from the dictator that ruined everything.” He also said, “And the most interesting thing is that Venezuelans are not mad about it; it’s the people from outside, the people that don’t know how life in Venezuela is, the ones that have not experienced it.”
This invasion also escalated the fear in other regions, as Trump threatened to take control of other countries like Cuba.
The future of Venezuela is now uncertain. Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez is in charge until further notice. This makes me wonder: What will happen to Venezuela? Will the country’s current situation get better in the future?
