Venezuelan Canadian Augusto Figuera and his wife, Laura Ortega, were awakened after 2 a.m. on Jan. 3 by a call from a Toronto friend. She informed the couple that a military operation was underway in their homeland and shared videos and posts from social media.  

Figuera and Ortega then called family members living in Caracas to learn more details from the ground. They soon surmised that the United States was involved, given the rhetoric, air strikes on drug vessels and blockade of oil tankers in recent weeks.

Later in the morning, it was confirmed that the U.S. military had captured Nicolás Maduro, recognized by many Venezuelans and the international community as an illegitimate, authoritarian dictator. Academics, news outlets and Maduro’s political opposition released potent evidence indicating he lost the 2024 presidential election decisively, but his reign endured through oppression and intimidation tactics.

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Figuera came with his family to Canada in 2014 and has attended Toronto’s Blessed Trinity Parish since 2021. They departed Venezuela approximately a year after Maduro first came to power in 2013. The tension in the country was palpable. He said that the people would be okay only if they “are with the government and as long as you're repeating what they're saying and what they wanted.”

Figuera shared with The Catholic Register the mixture of emotions he experienced when the news broke that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were being flown to America to face criminal prosecution. The great hope is the atmosphere of repression and fear will be relegated to the past.

“It was all the feelings mixed together at the same time,” said Figuera. “There is happiness, but also a lot of fear. There was relief, but also anxiety.

“Maduro and all that group are really bad people,” he continued. “Seeing that there's a way for them to be removed from power and get the punishment that they deserve for everything they've done is a relief for sure. But on the other hand, not having a clear idea or knowing exactly what's going to happen now…who's really going to take control of the country and what's going to happen with our friends or family there?”

U.S. President Donald Trump stated in a Truth Social post on Jan. 3 that his administration would run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition." Since then, he has made multiple statements to the press in the vein of “we’re in charge,” and has warned Acting President Delcy Rodríguez to be cooperative.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated Washington would not govern the day-to-day affairs but would rather press for reform through leverage over oil.

Toronto-based Venezuelan activist Rebecca Sarfatti, who co-founded the Canada Venezuela Democracy Forum, expressed her gratitude for the capture of Maduro, but emphasized that more details need to emerge regarding the U.S. plan for the country, and that Venezuelans cannot be sidelined.

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“Venezuelans in general should not be left out of the equation,” said Sarfatti. “We cannot be a side component of what's happening. It's our country. I understand, and I can even agree that (Trump's) trying to help us, but ask us first.”

Calls have been made for either a new election to take place or for Maduro’s 2024 opponent, Edmundo González Urrutia, representing the Unitary Platform political coalition, to be elevated to the presidency.

María Corina Machado, the leader of the Unitary Platform, who dedicated her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Trump, told Fox News on Jan. 5 that she intends to return from exile to Venezuela “as soon as possible” and suggested the transition move forward with an election.

“We won an election by a landslide under fraudulent conditions,” said Machado. She asserted that “in free and fair elections, we will win over 90 per cent of the votes.”

For now, Venezuelans in the country and the diaspora abroad are in a wait-and-see mode. For Sarfatti’s part, she has been communicating with friends on WhatsApp to learn if banks are open, if parents are sending their kids to school and if they are proceeding onward with their normal life.

After experiencing 25 years of authoritarianism by United Socialist Party of Venezuela leaders Hugo Chávez and Maduro, Sarfatti recognizes that it will take some time to return to a “country that has a huge population of well-trained people and willing to work and sustain a democracy that we have lost so many years ago.

“We need to have patience so we can recover in the right way.”

When asked if he desired to return to his homeland if and when Venezuela is stabilized and on the path to revitalization, Figuera suggested it is not in his family’s plans.

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“When you’re out, you start rebuilding your life,” said Figuera. “We are so grateful to Canada, and we love this country. I have a kid, and for him, this is his country. This is his whole life. He is very proud to say he's Venezuelan Canadian. But this is home. I do love Venezuela, of course. It's my home country, and I hope the best for it. But I'm not sure if I'll go back. I should go visit for sure.”

He added with a chuckle that he’ll enjoy going “especially during winter (to) enjoy the beaches.”