'Still shaken': Trepidation in Venezuela after US captures Maduro
[January 05, 2026]
By REGINA GARCIA CANO, MEGAN JANETSKY and JUAN ARRAEZ
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — An anxious quiet fell over Venezuela 's
capital on Sunday as trepidation mixed with joy while a nation waited to
see what comes next.
People were slow to resume routines in Caracas after President Nicolás
Maduro was deposed and captured in a dramatic U.S. military operation.
Dozens of stores, restaurants and churches remained closed. Those on the
streets looked shell-shocked, staring at their phones or into the
distance.
“People are still shaken,” said 77-year-old David Leal, who arrived to
work as a parking attendant but realized he likely would not have
customers. He pointed to the deserted street, a few blocks from
Venezuela’s presidential palace, which was guarded by armed civilians
and military personnel.
‘May God give us strength’
Venezuela is no stranger to political tumult, but the dead-of-night U.S.
military operation early Saturday marked a new chapter with no ready
script.
U.S. President Donald Trump initially said the U.S. would “run” the
country until there was stability, a remark that Secretary of State
Marco Rubio seemed to walk back on Sunday.
Rubio insisted in interviews that Washington will use control of
Venezuela’s oil industry to force policy changes, and called the
government currently in place illegitimate. The country is home to the
world’s largest proven crude oil reserves.
“We want to see Venezuela transition to be a place completely different
than what it looks like today. But obviously, we don’t have the
expectation that’s going to happen in the next 15 hours,” Rubio said.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, flanked by the high military
command, told Venezuelans that Maduro was still the rightful leader.
Presidential duties, however, now belong to Vice President Delcy
Rodríguez, whom the high court ordered to assume the role of interim
president.
Rodríguez made no public comment Sunday.
Maduro's cadre of government officials demanded his release from custody
in New York, where his first court appearance is set for Monday.
State-controlled media did not air the images of him handcuffed on U.S.
soil.
Venezuelans instead saw them on social media, and many could not believe
their eyes.
“May God give us strength for what we are experiencing. I’m sad. He is a
human being,” said Nely Gutiérrez, a retiree, as her eyes welled with
tears. “They have him handcuffed, and if he is in the hands of the
empire, no one can save him from there, only God, not even God. He will
die there.”
Gutiérrez had walked to church only to find it closed. She said she
would have prayed for peace in Venezuela and for Maduro. She declined to
say whether she ever voted for him but said, “The word of God says love
your enemy.”
Fear of celebrating
In the U.S. and some Latin American countries, Maduro's ouster was
celebrated.
In Venezuela, the scene was different, with some supporters burning U.S.
flags and holding signs reading “Gringo go home."
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Residents look at a damaged apartment complex that neighbors say was
hit during U.S. strikes to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás
Maduro, in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias
Delacroix)
Others muted any anti-Maduro feelings for now. Construction worker
Daniel Medalla said people did not dare celebrate out of fear of
government repression.
“We were longing for it,” Medalla, 66, said of Maduro’s exit.
Memories remain fresh of the government crackdown following the 2024
presidential election, which Maduro claimed to have won despite
credible evidence that he lost by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
Protests left 28 people dead, 220 injured and at least 2,000
detained, according to official figures.
The presence of police and military personnel across Caracas on
Sunday was notable for its smaller size compared with an average
day. Soldiers attempted to clear an area of an air base that burned
along with at least three passenger buses during the U.S. attack.
Rubio in interviews said no U.S. forces were on the ground in
Venezuela but didn’t rule out further strikes there.
'This is it, what we are left with: ruins.'
Wilman González picked through rubble and broken furniture coating
the floor of his home in the coastal state of La Guaira on Sunday.
He was quiet, mourning everything he’d unexpectedly lost early
Saturday morning when an American strike blew apart the wall of his
apartment. The blast killed his sleeping 80-year-old aunt Rosa Elena
González.
The family rushed her to the hospital, where medical staff scrambled
to give her oxygen, but González said there was nothing they could
do.
Venezuelan officials have said Saturday’s operation killed civilians
and military personnel. But they have not given a toll, and the
government’s press office has not responded to multiple requests.
Now, with stitches lining the corner of his blackened eye, González
was left staring at the gaping hole in his wall.
“This is it, what we are left with: ruins,” he said.
González spoke with anger not just at all he’d lost, but also the
compounding economic and political crises that Venezuela has endured
for years, and a government that he said has stopped working for the
people.
The government “can throw me in jail if they want, but I’m talking
about the reality of the country we live in,” González said. “What
we want is a government that is good for all Venezuelans, not just a
few.”
___
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Arraez reported from La Guaira,
Venezuela.
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