‘Today, we’re all Venezuelans’: In Doral, prayers for peace post-Maduro
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Strike on Venezuela
What to know about the U.S. military action in Venezuela and the removal of leader Nicolas Maduro.
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On the day after Venezuelans woke up to the news of strongman Nicolás Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces, Venezuelan exiles in Doral, grappling with the uncertainty facing the country, gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray for the nation’s future.
Just before the 10 a.m. Mass, around 1,200 people were already sitting in pews, talking to each other about the weekend’s actions and what the future holds for Venezuela. Some congregants wore Venezuelan jerseys or carried small flags. Others wore Venezuelan hats they doffed as they entered the church.
Nmanuel Roman, 53, who immigrated from Venezuela around ten years ago and worked in the oil industry, said that the news of Maduro’s capture was welcomed, but that now was the time to wait and see what happens.
“We need to wait to see how the political scenario moves to not make mistakes,” he said, adding that in the past Venezuelans and politicians have made mistakes trusting blindly in political figures.
He told the Herald that he attended Sunday’s mass to thank God for the removal of Maduro.
“God’s timing is very perfect and we can’t change that,” he said. “We have to wait for what He decides for us Venezuelans.”
By the time Mass started, dozens of people were standing behind the pews unable to find seats.
“I think today, we’re all Venezuelans, right?” Rev. Israel Mago, who is also Venezuelan, said at the beginning of the Sunday Mass. The attendees immediately clapped.
Mago told the Herald earlier that Sunday’s Mass wasn’t necessarily for Venezuela, but that technically all of them were.
However, during the reading of the intentions, Venezuela was again mentioned. “For a just and peaceful transition in Venezuela, ” the lector read.
The Venezuelan community in South Florida, as well as those inside the country, are feeling a sense of uncertainty. Many, like Roman, were hoping President Donald Trump would say he was backing Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, who was the presumptive winner of the country’s 2025 election in July.
Instead, during a press conference on Saturday, Trump said the U.S. would work with Maduro’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and that the U.S. would ‘run’ Venezuela and invite American oil companies to re-build infrastructure to sell oil.
“I can’t say right now whether it was a mistake or not,” said Roman of Trump’s remarks. “I imagine that, given how politics works, there are scenarios at this moment that aren’t entirely clear, and it’s probably not the right time to talk about what will happen next,” he said. “We have to wait.”
Maria Gabriela Louis, 44, wearing a 7-starred Venezuelan flag tied around her neck, walked out of the service with her eyes red and swollen. Officially, the Venezuelan flag has eight stars, after the late president Hugo Chavez added one in 2006, to represent the Guayana province — but many who consider themselves part of the opposition still use the flag with seven stars.
She came to the service to give thanks and pray for Venezuela, she said.
“I’m very moved, with a lot of hope because it was a long-awaited day, she said. “But I had a lot of faith and that is why I am here,” she said.
Louis shared that she is concerned about the violence that the transition might bring, as armed groups, known as the collectivos, are still present.
“That’s the fear that I have, but it is not the fear of the future because I know that the path to freedom has been opened.”
The mother of two has lived in the U.S. for seven years, but said that she would move back only if and when it was safe enough to do so.
“We always had the hope of going back,” she said. “But the change of government doesn’t produce an immediate safety.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 12:16 PM.
