In Venezuela, there are what the citizens call “presos políticos” (political prisoners). This term refers to those Venezuelans who speak out against their government and are taken to prisons or torture centres. Some of the interviewees’ family members and friends are at risk of being captured if they reveal their identities. For this reason, pseudonyms have been used in this article.
Two months have passed since the President of the United States of America authorized an operation to enter Venezuelan territory to abduct the country’s leader, President Nicolás Maduro. Since then, questions have circulated wondering how a foreign nation was able to intervene in Venezuelan territory without outraging most citizens. In this Latin American country, there has been an ongoing conflict between the government and its citizens, and The Omega has not only documented key landmarks but also contacted four Venezuelans living in Kamloops to share their thoughts on the situation.
On Jan. 3, United States forces crossed into Venezuela with the stated goal of capturing President Nicolás Maduro. They struck strategic targets in Caracas, the capital, and the operation ended with Maduro’s capture.
“I’m scared for the people that are still in Venezuela, because even though Maduro is out, it is only the surface of a whole iceberg; a regime…” said Sofia, a student who had to immigrate with her family when the protests became inhumane.
Exceeding Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves, Venezuela has relied on its petroleum to sustain its economy for a long time. When global oil prices declined in the 1980s, the country faced an ongoing economic crisis. Subsequent presidents sought to undo this reliance, and in 1989, former President Carlos Andrés Pérez raised the country’s market prices.
Three years later, a military group – with Hugo Chávez among them – attempted a coup d’état. Though he and the officers were sent to prison, Venezuelans did not forget Chávez because he spoke for them. This is how, after being released in 1994 and studying politics alongside former Cuban President Fidel Castro, he was elected president of Venezuela in 1999.
Pedro, another interviewee who worked in the petroleum industry, remembered Chávez’s actions.
“As time passed, the parliamentary elections were due, and Chávez’s party won,” he says. “Later, they chose the Supreme Court of Justice and won, too. … Then the oil strike happened in 2002; he took advantage and fired 80 per cent of the people working in Petróleos de Venezuela, PDVSA [Petroleum of Venezuela] because they joined the oil strike.”
From then on, his plans for what he called the Bolivarian Revolution resulted in public debt, corruption, expropriations of the public and private companies, censored press and more.
After Chávez’s death in 2013, oil prices declined again under his pupil’s command. That pupil’s name is Nicolás Maduro. Given that Venezuela’s economy did not allow for more petroleum extraction, the government printed more money.
Contrary to international opinions, the four interviewees agreed that their focus is not on the petroleum President Trump takes, because the government has been selling it to China, Russia and other countries for relatively low prices.
Both Sofia and Pedro expressed that Venezuela’s history must be known to understand why it is not significant who comes for their aid, “Internationally, it is always alarming when one country attacks another and kidnaps its leader… But if you come here and see our history, you’ll get why a Venezuelan would say, ‘Take him, it doesn’t matter.’”
Around 2015, protests, which Venezuelans called guarimbas, began in earnest and intensified with time. According to the interviewees, this was the worst time for Venezuela because people were silenced and killed by the government and its military forces.
“A moment comes when the call for protests tires you. The dead were dead, and the police who killed them weren’t put in jail … This happened in 2017, 2018, when Venezuelans emigrated massively,” Pedro said.
Years later, the presidential election took place in 2024. Edmundo Gonzáles and María Corina Machado ran against Maduro with the support of the countries they visited on a diplomatic tour. Carlos, another interviewee, recalls that most Venezuelans were celebrating in the streets even before the announcement had been made, while Maduro talked about the possibility of a bloodbath. The opposition party lost.
Many issues unfolded from the presidential election through the end of 2025, but one event proved unexpected—Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a symbolic and very public show of appreciation, Machado shared it with President Donald Trump, much to the chagrin of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
Though many view the relationship between Edmundo’s party and the United States government as unexpected, the Americans had been speaking up about Venezuela before Barack Obama took office. But a turning point came in 2014 to 2016, when Congress approved and extended a law that allowed targeted sanctions on Venezuelan officials. Obama’s 2015 executive order put those sanctions into effect, focusing on human rights and democracy, a move later followed by his successor, President Joe Biden. Trump also cited the same themes, but his approach hit harder through financial restrictions.
As for the future of Venezuela, most described the situation as a cancer that has to be removed entirely to finally get the liberty they’ve been fighting for.
Even though it will take time, some of them hope to go back.
“Five years from now, I think things will change. Five to 10 years for it to be realistic … I mean, there is nothing like your home,” said Juan, who came to study in Canada in hopes of a better future.
Those who had to leave are now thinking of the possibilities they did not have before: studying, working and living without fear of being abducted.