Venezuelans in U.S. Share Hopes for Returning Home

“I called my mom right away and I was like, ‘Is this real?’” “We played a lot of Venezuelan music, and we were in the kitchen dancing.” “To see him out of power is something that definitely makes me and many others happy.” [crowd chanting] “After having to suffer under tyrannical rule, after having to live in a country that has seen the highest inflation rates in recent history, to see someone that has had a very direct hand in all of these happening face some sort of justice is definitely something that me and my compatriots are quite thrilled about. It definitely does not seem like the current conditions are safe enough or different enough for me and many others that have also been in exile to attempt to come back, right? Nonetheless, I insist this is definitely an episode that brings many of us hope. Certainly the first much-needed step towards freedom, towards justice, towards living a decent life in a decent country where everyone truly matters.” “So my home is the U.S. — for a fact. My husband is American. I would love to go back and visit, and show him where I came from. I mean, I have family there. There’s no resources. And just to think that this might be over, you know — we don’t know yet, but it’s kind of like a sign of relief. Just by taking Maduro out does not really change a lot of things. There’s still people in power that are there, and that’s going to take years.” “There’s so many things that are not working. How do we move forward from here? Where do we start? I think that’s where the hesitation comes from. We’ve built our lives here, right?” I moved here when I was 15. I’m 29, so I have lived here the same amount of time that I lived in Venezuela. So it is hard for me because it’s almost like I’m both. But I love my family. I would love the opportunity to see my grandparents. I would love the opportunity to go home.”