By Mariëtte Le Roux, AFP
Venezuelans living in Argentina celebrate at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires on January 3, 2026, after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Photo: TOMAS CUESTA/AFP
Some of the nearly eight million Venezuelans who fled economic collapse and repression under Nicolas Maduro gathered in their thousands in cities worldwide Saturday to celebrate the strongman's ouster by US forces.
Thousands massed in the Chilean capital, Santiago, joyfully waving the Venezuelan flag, many decked out in their national colours of yellow, blue and red.
Venezuelans living in Monterrey react as they celebrate in Monterrey, Mexico. Photo: JULIO CESAR AGUILAR/AFP
"At last we'll be able to go back home," street vendor Yurimar Rojas told AFP, straining to make himself heard over the ebullient crowd.
"At last we're going to have a free country," he exclaimed.
Maduro, whose claims to reelection in 2018 and 2024 were widely dismissed as fraudulent, was snatched by US forces in an early-morning military strike and was to be flown to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
"This is tremendous for us," celebrated Yasmery Gallardo, 61, who said she planned to return home soon from Chile, where she has lived for eight years.
"I'm already planning my trip...I can't wait to be back in my country!" she exclaimed.
Venezuelans in Chile have been spooked by the campaign promises of far-right president-elect Jose Antonio Kast to deport nearly 340,000 undocumented migrants he blames for a perceived rise in crime.
'Thank you, Trump'
In Miami thousands more gathered, singing and kissing the Venezuelan flag.
One shouted from the crowd: "Thank you, Trump!"
Photo: MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP
Venezuelans living in Panama celebrate with Venezuelan national flags and a mask depicting US President Donald Trump, in Panama City.
"Today, January 3rd, the dreams of Venezuelans abroad came true," Ana Gonzalez, one of the revelers, told AFP.
Another, Anabela Ramos, said she had been waiting "27 years for this moment and now it's finally happened, it's finally happened!"
In Spain, home to about 400,000 Venezuelans, thousands massed in Madrid to celebrate.
"He is gone, he is gone!" and "He has fallen, he has fallen!" they shouted, many with the Venezuelan flag draped over their shoulders as they hugged.
"I came to celebrate: at last we're emerging from this dictatorship!" said Pedro Marcano, 47, who has his heart set on going home after 11 years abroad.
But first, "we'll need things to be a bit clearer", he said.
The country's future is uncertain, with President Donald Trump saying Saturday the United States will "run" Venezuela until a power transfer can happen.
US President Donald Trump, alongside (L/R) Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, speaks to the press following US military actions in Venezuela, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3, 2026. Photo: AFP/SUPPLIED
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said she is ready to work with Washington, according to Trump, who said opposition leader Maria Corina Machado "doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country" to be president.
Rodriguez later insisted in a public address that Maduro was Venezuela's "only president" and the government was "ready to defend" the country.
At the Madrid rally, a message from Machado was played over a loudspeaker, and the crowd fell silent.
"Venezuela will be free!" said Machado, and Marcano wiped away a tear.
'Divine justice'
In the capital of Colombia, which hosts nearly 3 million Venezuelans - more than any other country - hairdresser Kevin Zambrano grinned widely as he told AFP he was "happy, happy, happy, happy" to see the back of Maduro.
"The first step is done, and everything else is a gain. [Thanks] to Donald Trump for helping Venezuela," he said at his workplace in Bogota, having left his home country 10 years ago.
Yeiner Benitez, who works as a security guard in the Colombian capital, got tears in his eyes as he recalled the hardship and fear that drove him to leave Venezuela in 2022.
During his absence, his uncle died from what Benitez said was a common illness due to a lack of medication - a common occurrence in economic crisis-ravaged Venezuela.
"Venezuela has gone through a very difficult process; these have been very hard years -- years of hunger, misery, torture, friends lost, friends who disappeared," Benitez told AFP.
"So, forgive the emotion, but what's happening today is extraordinary; it's divine justice."
Not everyone was happy with what they see as foreign intervention in the affairs of a sovereign country. In Mexico City, dozens gathered at the US embassy to make their protest known, waving banners with slogans such as "No to war."
Union members and students take part in a demonstration in support of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro at the Venezuelan embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, on January 3, 2026, after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Photo: SERGIO LIMA/AFP
"Venezuelan brothers, resist... don't hand over your land, your oil, your gold" to the United States, protest leader Mario Benitez told the crowd.
Protestors take part in a demonstration against US military action in Venezuela in Lafayette Square in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 3, 2026. Photo: AFP/SUPPLIED
- AFP
