00:00Trump's operation in Venezuela has shocked the world, but responses to the capture of
00:05Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have been mixed.
00:09Maduro's time in power was largely characterised by widespread poverty, food shortages and
00:14human rights abuses.
00:15Well, Venezuela is a country that has been living an ongoing crisis for the past 27 years.
00:22It's one of the countries that has the largest number of refugees in the world, according
00:28to the UN Refugee Agency.
00:30You can summarise Maduro regime in three words by saying that it was an oppressive, certainly
00:36non-democratic and difficult regime for the country.
00:42Since 2014, nearly a third of the population has left the country, with around 21,000 settling
00:48in the UK.
00:49Since the capture of Maduro, Venezuelans have been uncertain about who's going to come to
00:53power next.
00:54Celebrations in the country have been muted, but not necessarily because people aren't
00:58happy.
00:59Venezuelans in Venezuela at the moment are a little bit apprehensive of what's happening.
01:06There is a sense of relief that Maduro is gone, but the rest of the regime and the heads of
01:11different institutions in the country are still there, and they're still ruling the country.
01:16There's a lot of uncertainty around what's happening in this transition phase.
01:21When I talk to friends, when I look at my WhatsApp groups, there's absolute silence.
01:25No one is able to say anything.
01:26Because if you say something against the regime or your express support for the American move,
01:32or your express support for the freedom and the change of regime, then you might actually
01:37be taken into prison.
01:40Outside Downing Street on Monday, several left-wing and anti-war coalition groups gathered in protest
01:45to Donald Trump's latest move.
01:46At the end of the day, they have been preparing this for quite a while.
01:51They are covering all of these actions under the language of democracy and the language of
01:57human rights or the language of peace, even the fight against drugs.
02:01But I think that many people, not only in London, but across the world are able to see past that
02:06and are able to see reality in the face and are able to see that what America is doing
02:11is not out of love for democracy.
02:16Donald Trump's motives may not be as altruistic as they seem, with many believing his altruism
02:21is a disguise for greed.
02:23Obviously, we know the real reason is for oil to kick China and other imperious nations
02:29out of Latin America so he can expand his influence.
02:33We have to say we are not naive.
02:35We understand that obviously there are some interests from the American administration.
02:42That's the only way that they would be part of this.
02:45But for us Venezuelans, it's like the first time that we feel that our voices are being heard
02:50and that we are feeling that we are receiving the international support that we need.
02:54While we appreciate that the way how Majuro was captured was probably not within the international
03:00legal framework and we wish it would have happened in a completely different way,
03:06we cannot hide the fact that we are happy that it has been removed from power.
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