Venezuelans in Utah still foresee change in country but say it may take time

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Members of Utah's Venezuelan community remain confident change is afoot in the country, nearly three months after President Nicolás Maduro's ouster by U.S. forces.
They support efforts by the administration of President Donald Trump to prod change in Venezuela, but say the process takes time.
Meantime, foes of the socialist regime in Venezuela still face danger.

SALT LAKE CITY — It's been nearly three months since U.S. forces swooped into Venezuela and deposed Nicolás Maduro, the nation's president.

Forces aligned with the socialist strongman still rule the country.

Nevertheless, members of the Venezuelan community now living in Utah — largely opposed to Maduro and his regime — remain confident that change is afoot, though it may take time, and many still live in fear.

Venezuelans "need to keep supporting President (Donald) Trump's policies, regardless of the immigration issue," said Norely López, originally from Venezuela but now living in South Jordan. "We as Venezuelans trust the work that is being done, and we know significant change is coming and that Venezuela will ultimately get liberty and democracy."

She's involved in efforts with other Venezuelans living in the United States through Vente Venezuela, a political movement that's pushing for a return to democracy in the country. The movement is allied with Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has led the struggle to promote democracy in Venezuela.

Carlos Moreno, a member of the Salt Lake County Council who fled Venezuela in 2009 due to political persecution, said he met with a pair of U.S. State Department representatives recently who offered insights on U.S. efforts to bring about change. Trump ordered the U.S. military operation on Jan. 3 to forcibly remove Maduro from the country so he could face charges related to drug trafficking in federal court in New York.

The State Department officials, who were seeking feedback from Venezuelans in the United States, said U.S. personnel are in Venezuela, working directly with Venezuelan officials to try to prod change. Delcy Rodriguez, part of the Maduro government, has been serving as the nation's president since Maduro's ouster. Moreno also foresees increased U.S. investment in the oil and electricity sectors in Venezuela, further promoting change.

"They are taking over the government. The United States has many representatives ... in many places in the Venezuelan government to start making changes," Moreno said. Moreover, Rodriguez, he said, has been cooperating with U.S. officials.

Hector Hernandez, who fled Venezuela in 2021 due to political persecution, is also optimistic, noting that change takes time.

"Everything in its time. It's not that fast because, remember, Chavismo has been in power for 28 years, and it's not easy to topple the criminal structure they had," he said. Chavismo refers to the socialist ideology implemented during the regime of President Hugo Chávez, who led the country from 1999 until his death in 2013, when Maduro took over.

López thinks the remnants of the Maduro government still in power will eventually implode. For now, though, things are still tough in Venezuela and dangerous for opponents of the socialist government, both she and Moreno say.

"The fear is continuing because it's a machine. ... It's not overnight that you're going to dismantle or take away that machine, that horror machine," Moreno said. Change has to be implemented slowly "because you don't want more death, and you don't want more chaos and anarchy in Venezuela."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.