Forced to flee Venezuelan Americans reflect on protests and the fall of Maduro

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Continuing our coverage of the Venezuela strike, News 12’s Lillian Yi spoke with two U.S. citizens who were forced to flee Venezuela and shared their perspectives on the recent protests surrounding Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

One of those voices belongs to Vanessa, a Venezuelan born U.S. citizen who left the country as a child.

She asked that her face be blurred for her family’s safety, as relatives still reside in Venezuela.

“If you love it so much,” Vanessa said. “Why don’t you go? Come back and let me know how much you liked it.”

Vanessa says her family came to the United States around 1999, before many understood how dramatically the country would change.

“I don’t think people knew what was going to happen,” she said. “My parents were just wise beyond their time. They saw a shift coming and decided leaving was what was best for us.”

Vanessa says while she has been able to assimilate into American culture, her connection to Venezuela has never faded.

“I hear it all the time. You don’t have an accent. You don’t have this,” she said. “But my heart is still back home. That part of you never dies.”

She says that shared connection is why Venezuelans across the world have rallied in response to recent events.

“That’s why you see Venezuelans celebrating everywhere,” Vanessa said. “We all have something there. Family, friends, memories. Even if no one is left, your tie to your community is still strong.”

She says emotions right now are layered and complex.

“We’re happy. We’re excited. We’re relieved,” she said. “But at the same time, we’re scared, confused, and we have questions. Two things can exist at once.”

Another Venezuelan born U.S. citizen, Rosi Ventura, says she lived in Venezuela until she was 18 years old and experienced the effects of the regime firsthand.

“I lived through this whole process,” Ventura said. “I didn’t know what freedom was until I moved here.”

Ventura says daily life in Venezuela was marked by fear and silence.

“You cannot talk on the streets,” she said. “If you say something wrong about the government, or if you say you couldn’t find medicine, you are putting yourself at risk and your family at risk.”

She says that lack of freedom ultimately pushed her to leave.

“I didn’t want someone else telling me how to think,” Ventura said. “There is no opportunity. There is no future in Venezuela.”

Ventura says when she arrived in the United States, she worked any job she could find, even with limited English.

“I cleaned. I worked housekeeping. I did whatever I had to do,” she said. “Little by little my English got better. People helped me. I could finally see a future.”

She says the recent developments feel long overdue.

“We have been waiting 27 years to get out of this government,” Ventura said. “What matters is that someone finally did something.”

Ventura pushed back strongly against critics of the strike and recent protests.

“I want to ask these activist people where they were the past 27 years,” she said. “When we were suffering. When people were being killed.”

On Sunday, a protest was held at Miller Park, where one protester told News 12, he disagreed with the strike.

“I don’t believe Maduro is a dictator,” said protester Braxton Stratton. “How can we, as the imperial court, judge a country that has been under an illegal blockade for 60 years for its actions? They cannot be free or fight for their interests as long as we are actively killing their leaders and bombing their nation. How can we pass judgment on a country under our boot?”

Both women say those arguments often come from people who have never lived under an authoritarian regime.

“When you grow up with democracy your whole life, it’s very hard to understand the opposite,” Vanessa said. “That’s privilege.”

Vanessa says she believes people protesting should take time to learn Venezuela’s history.

“This isn’t a one-night thing,” she said. “We have been suffering in silence for decades.”

Ventura also addressed claims that Venezuela’s oil wealth benefited its people.

“Do you think Venezuelans benefited from the oil,” she said. “Let me grab the oil barrels I supposedly have under my bed. No. We never benefited.”

She says foreign influence and corruption only deepened the crisis.

“There were parts of Venezuela controlled by other governments,” Ventura said. “We all heard growing up how rich the country was, but none of that reached the people.”

Both women also addressed concerns about how the mission was carried out and whether Congress was notified.

“They tried for months to get Maduro to surrender peacefully,” Ventura said. “This wasn’t sudden. They knew this was coming.”

Vanessa says even with Maduro captured, the future remains uncertain.

“There’s still a whole network there,” she said. “This is a mafia. There are still people on the ground who are part of this regime.”

She also pointed to the recent revocation of Temporary Protected Status for more than 600,000 Venezuelans now living in the United States.

“People are asking if it’s safe to go home,” Vanessa said. “And the truth is, we don’t know yet.”

Despite that uncertainty, both women say this moment represents validation for millions who were forced to leave.

“Nobody leaves home by choice,” Vanessa said. “This is a diaspora of eight million people.”

Ventura says the message she wants people to hear is simple.

“Talk to us,” she said. “Learn from us. This goes beyond politics. Venezuelans are people with emotions. We’ve lost so much, and this is our moment.”

Vanessa echoed that call for understanding.

“As you have the right to protest, go talk to us,” she said. “Ask us what brought us here. I promise it will shift your perspective.”