LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores were captured overnight in an attack by the United States, sparking divided reactions in Las Vegas among the local Venezuelan community and protesters.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi indicted the two on criminal charges of drug and weapons trafficking. U.S. Special Forces took them in a surprise raid before dawn in the country’s capital city of Caracas.
The operation involved airstrikes in Caracas and other areas. Officials say they plan to hold Maduro in a federal detention center in Brooklyn. He and his wife could be arraigned as soon as Monday.
The operation comes at a time of rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela. For now, the country is under American control.
Las Vegas protests over attack and capture
The U.S. actions have caused nationwide reaction, including in Las Vegas. Many people are condemning the attack and capture while others are celebrating it.
Passionate voices gathered in downtown Las Vegas Saturday, screaming out against the U.S. attack on Venezuela.
“It’s absolutely insane to kidnap the president of a sovereign nation,” said Connor Leavitt, a protestor.
Leavitt, who works in education, said he feels funds should go toward education rather than military operations.
“I work in education. I feel that we deserve the sort of funds that right now is going towards the war machine. The war machine isn’t helping us,” Leavitt said.
Demonstrators stood in solidarity with the Venezuelan people in what they called U.S. aggression.
“We just want to advocate for peace and the understanding that we don’t have to bomb countries and kill people just for oil,” said Stephanie Gentry, an organizer.
“I think it’s an interesting perspective to say that we need to invade another country because of an influx of drugs into the country, but then we won’t hold our own pharmaceutical companies accountable for what they have done to our own American people. You can’t have this double-edged sword where you care about these issues and not care about what’s happening here abroad.”
Venezuelan community celebrates
While sounds of protest rang loud and clear, so did cheers of celebration.
“It was needed… because they were dictators. They were doing a narco regime, they brought a lot of [poverty], and a lot of abuse of human rights in Venezuela,” said Zoraida Caldera.
Caldera has helped organize Las Vegas’s Venezuelan community for the last 23 years. She told FOX 5 she doesn’t understand why people would protest the removal of someone who has caused her country so much pain.
“I don’t know where they’re from, because I guarantee you, their families, members of their family, have left Venezuela for a better future,” Caldera said. “Don’t lose hope. The fight continues. This is just the very big step towards freedom. So, we need to keep on fighting.”
According to the Migration Policy Institute, there were 2,400 Venezuelan immigrants living in Nevada based on data between 2019-2023. 2,100 of which call Clark County home.
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