Venezuelans inside Venezuela have attempted to maintain normality in Caracas and elsewhere as their first work week without Nicolás Maduro in charge of the country began on Monday.
On Monday morning, Breitbart News spoke to residents of Caracas who asked for anonymity given the danger they face of retribution from socialist gangs. They all answered that they would carry out their normal daily activities at their respective workplaces.
One of the individuals, who works at a retail shop, explained that there was a possibility that the shop would end up closing early, but their activities would otherwise remain unchanged for the day. Another of the individuals, who works for a public hospital, told Breitbart News that the hospital’s directive evaluated reducing the staff’s off-days this week in the event of an “emergency,” but that the policy was yet-to-be implemented as of Monday morning moments before they left for work.
Another witness from Western Venezuela confided to Breitbart News on condition of anonymity that everything was calm in their town and that the person’s family planned to carry out day-to-day activities as if nothing had happened over the weekend. According to the witness, the person’s daughter went out for a walk and exercise like every other regular Monday.
Maduro and wife Cilia Flores, officially the “first combatant” of Venezuela, were captured and extradited to the United States in the early morning hours of Saturday. They face a host of criminal charges associated with narco-terrorism activity.
Unlike several countries around the world where the Venezuelan diaspora freely and jubilantly celebrated Maduro’s downfall, Venezuelans inside their country must exercise extreme caution. Although Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are presently in U.S. custody awaiting to be tried at a New York court, the Venezuelan socialist regime — and its entire brutally repressive apparatus — remain intact at press time.
A week before Maduro’s capture, the socialist regime-controlled National Assembly passed a law punishing with up to 20 years prison time to anyone who supports “international wrongful acts” against the Venezuelan regime. The law was expeditiously drafted and passed by socialist lawmakers days after President Donald Trump ordered a “total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela on mid-December.
Venezuelan outlets reported on Monday that the socialist regime issued an emergency decree allegedly “signed” by Maduro before he was captured imposing a “State of Emergency” throughout Venezuela on the grounds of “guaranteeing internal order, national defense, and the protection of the population in the event of an extraordinary external situation.”
Article Five of the decree reportedly states that national, state, and municipal police forces shall immediately undertake the search and capture of “any person involved in promoting or supporting the armed attack by the United States of America against the territory of the Republic.”
In addition to the new laws, since 2017 the ruling socialists have used a dubious “anti-hate speech” law to heavily punish dissenting voices inside the country, prompting Venezuelans to adopt self-censorship practices to avoid incurring in the wrath of the regime’s officials. In November, the socialist regime used the legislation to sentence a 65-year-old doctor to prison for having sent a voice note on the WhatsApp messaging platform critical of Nicolás Maduro in 2024.
The Argentine outlet Infobae reported on Sunday that the streets of Caracas were empty with “very little traffic” but with long lines of shoppers at stores. According to the Venezuelan state-owned power company Corporelec, several areas of Caracas were left without power over the weekend as a result of the “criminal attack” that resulted in the capture of Maduro, with power finally restored to the affected areas on Sunday night.
Local outlets reported that on Saturday, hours after the U.S. military operation that resulted in Maduro’s capture, Venezuelans in Caracas flocked to supermarkets to stock up on food, with minimal traffic across the city throughout the day.
A Peruvian man living in Caracas spoke with TV Peru on Sunday under condition of anonymity. The man asserted that the U.S. military operation “caused unease and concern among residents” but praised locals for their behavior in the aftermath.
“The behavior of most Venezuelan citizens has been quite exemplary. What prevailed was widespread sanity, and people went out the next day to look for supplies,” the man reportedly said. “For safety reasons, many stores remained closed, which led to long lines to stock up on supplies. Today [Sunday], for example, the situation is returning to normal.”
A woman identified under the pseudonym “Dina” told the BBC on Saturday that although she was grateful to the United States for having taken Maduro away, the political climate remained tense in Caracas, and as such she did not chose to disclose her real name.
“Jorge,” another resident of Caracas, explained to the BBC that while he is grateful for the “support shown by Trump and the entire U.S.,” he feared that times ahead will not be easy.
“Now that Maduro is gone, what will happen?” He asked. “There is no guarantee of what will happen in the future. There is a lot of uncertainty. We don’t know what will happen in the coming days.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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