Venezuelan Jewish Diaspora jubilant over Maduro arrest, but skeptical about next steps

Writer Maor Malul, who lives in Israel, said that his mother and sister bought a bottle of wine to celebrate. He brought a rare bottle of Venezuelan rum he found in Bulgaria to work on Sunday. The happiness is widespread, ubiquitous among his non-Jewish Venezuelan friends.

Many of his friends left over two decades ago as President Hugo Chavez came to power, Malul left himself in 2014, and his cousins only a few years ago.

Each departure came with a snapshot of the economic and rights situation, which, when compared, has gotten progressively worse.

“Seeing Maduro removed from power is very satisfying, honestly,” said Malul. “We all have lost friends, colleagues, to the regime. So it means a lot to all of us.”

Yet many were wondering what would happen next in the country, as the removal of Maduro didn’t mean the regime was over.

Marco Manchego, who lives in Jerusalem, was ecstatic about Maduro facing justice, but said that he was not fully given to the moment, knowing that there would be a long process to the next stage in Venezuela’s history.

He spoke to a friend of his who was imprisoned by the regime for two years, before being released in a humanitarian agreement – he shared Manchego’s happiness and apprehension about the coming days.

Hanna, who also lives in Israel, spoke to her brother in Venezuela, who related that while everyone was happy about Maduro’s capture, they were skeptical because transitions like this take time.

The implementation was also unclear for Trump’s vision that Washington would run Caracas until there was a transition to a new government. Hanna explained that besides Rodríguez, there were still major regime figures at large, such as the interior minister and head of state intelligence.

Either could take control in Maduro’s absence to lead the regime. With military backing, it didn’t matter what the populace had to say.

Latino Coalition for Israel member and Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy scholar Sammy Eppel said on Saturday, while more enthusiastic supporters of Venezuelan democracy supposed that the country would enter a new era, he was not as certain.

The operation was a surgical strike that removed Maduro, but left the regime in power.

“They probably created a crisis to solve a crisis,” said Eppel.

The US had indicated that it was not going to invade or take further steps to topple the Maduro regime, which meant that the resolution of the crisis would have to come at the hands of the Venezuelan people.

If the military, which had “the firepower to make a change,” said that it was going to acknowledge that Maduro had lost to the opposition in the recent elections, this could put an end to the crisis for the “illegal” regime.

Manchego said that Maduro was not a real partner for negotiations with the US, and would have held onto power until the end, like leaders in Cuba and North Korea. The regime was dangerous to other countries in the Americas, with deep connections to Hezbollah and Iran, supplying the latter and Russia with Uranium.

Hanna said that it was frightening with Iran, China, and Russia setting up shop in Venezuela, which was only a three-hour flight to Miami. Manchego decried left-wing groups abroad criticizing the US for its operation, saying that it was in opposition to the experiences of millions of Venezuelan refugees who knew the true nature of communism and socialism.

Contrary to the criticisms of these groups, Eppel said that Maduro had stolen the election to remain in power, meaning the official’s arrest had been legitimate.

“He’s not a legal president; they have taken out a criminal, a narco-terrorist,” said Eppel.

Many also condemned the regime for the rising antisemitism in the country. Hanna said that Venezuela was once one of the least antisemitic countries in South America and had a “beautiful” history of serving as a refuge for Jews fleeing persecution in Europe. Eppel said that it was once “a very nice country to live, to raise a family, and do it freely.”

Yet the country has grown steadily more inhospitable over the years. Hanna and Eppel said that in 2004, a Jewish school was raided by police, which were ostensibly looking for hidden weapons.

The true purpose was intimidation of the Jewish community, said Hanna. In 2009, Venezuela’s oldest synagogue was ransacked, allegedly by government-backed gangs, and Torah scrolls were thrown on the ground.

The community in Venezuela, once 30,000 to 40,000 strong, dwindled to 2,000 to 4,000 people. Hanna said that those who left went to the US, Europe, and Israel, but those who remained didn’t have the means.

Eppel said that many who left were the scions of Holocaust survivors who had come to the country of refugees, now refugees themselves.

The community was reportedly having difficulty maintaining the institutions built when it was prosperous: schools, cemeteries, and seniors’ homes. Eppel recalled that they had, like so many of the millions of other Venezuelans who had fled the country, left behind property and businesses.

Eppel was one of those who had to flee the country due to persecution. Born and raised in Venezuela, he had to leave the country a decade ago because of his journalistic work.

“I became an enemy of the state, according to them, because I was critical of them,” Eppel recalled.

Now he was worried for those who remained behind. Often, regimes scapegoated minorities for their failures, and in the past, Maduro had blamed Zionists, the US, and the Mossad for any failings. The fear in the Jewish community grew when Rodríguez suggested in a Saturday statement that the US attack had “Zionist undertones.”

The community is keeping a low profile, said Manchego, not talking about what happened, just going about their business.

A word of criticism or signs of celebration came with fear of imprisonment. The Jewish leadership had met since the attack occurred, and put out a warning to the rest of the community not to congregate, to stay at home, and not to hold any community events.

Malul said that he was sorry for his people and that he missed the country. He hadn’t been there since he had left. His passport had expired, and as Caracas had no embassy in Jerusalem, it was a difficult process to renew it.

Even if he travelled to another country to do so, he could be denied for any reason. He wanted to see the places where he grew up, the mountains, the beaches.

Eppel said that all Venezuelan Jews loved the country and hoped that they could one day visit. A great majority of the broader Venezuelan diaspora would return there if they felt they could raise their families there in peace.