By Jóse Cervantes and Sonia Chang
Valentina Chesneau Rodrigues from Venezuela, is happy to see the U.S. intervention and President Nicolas Maduro, whom she believes is a criminal, being removed from the country.
Born in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, but living in Mexico now, the 22-year-old student does not view the U.S.’s operation in Venezuela as a military attack.
“In Venezuela, where there is no democracy, accepting someone else’s help is the only way to bring changes to the country, and yet it was necessary,” she says.
In January, the U.S. launched a military strike in Venezuela and captured incumbent President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Because of the political situation in her home country, Rodrigues left Venezuela with her family and moved to live in Mexico City when she was nine.
But even now, she can recall a big protest against the Venezuelan government when she was only eight. She remembers planes flying over Caracas at 3 a.m. and how people’s daily lives were impacted.
“We could not find daily supplies in the supermarket, even though we had the money to pay for them in Venezuela. Rice could be out of stock in the supermarket for two weeks,” she says.
The student says that there are very few opportunities in Venezuela, given the rooted military, economic, and political spheres there.
“Job opportunities were few, and education in Venezuela was poor. Teachers were looking for better opportunities and moving to other places. It was difficult to find people to replace the vacancies; there used to be lots of missing classes,” she adds.
Rodrigues’ relatives still live in Venezuela, but she cannot ask them for their opinions regarding the capture of their president.
“Police check their phones every time they go on the street. The existing regime in Venezuela prohibits phone calls, posts, texts or any type of communication in which people say a word against the president or the regime,” she explains.
She notes that U.S. companies began exploring for oil in Venezuela in the early 20th century.
“We do not care if the US wants our resources or not. Without the help from the U.S., we would only have petroleum underground and no possible way of using it,” she says.
Till now, the Venezuelan student has no plan to return to her home country. Currently living in Mexico City, the student is afraid that Mexico is going to become “the next Venezuela”, because the Mexican government is an ally of the Venezuelan regime.
“News [outlets] in Mexico are very keen on supporting Nicolas Maduro,” she explains.
Salvador Iglesias, a 22-year-old Mexican journal editor from “El Heraldo de México”, opposes the U.S.’s actions in Venezuela.
“They only wanted to capture Maduro to put pressure on the Venezuelan government for selling their oil to the United States; they do not care about the people and democracy,” Salvador says.
He believes that the U.S. operation is a violation of the sovereignty of Venezuela and a violation of international law.
“These actions are not done to help Venezuelans and will not solve their problems. Donald Trump cannot ignore international laws and conduct military actions in foreign lands in South America or anywhere else,” he says.
Salvador understands people like Rodrigues who welcome the U.S.’s intervention. “I know people from Venezuela who are settled now in Mexico. These people are hopeful for a change in their country despite remaining the same even after the U.S. invasion,” he adds.
He notes that Mexicans are divided about the U.S.’s action, exactly like how the country’s news outlets reported.
“Some outlets managed by the Mexican government show support for Nicolas Maduro, mentioning that he was kidnapped by the United States. Still, other media remain neutral or oppose the regime openly,” Salvador says.
The United States has often offered help to Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to attack drug cartels in Mexican territory, but Salvador says the proposed U.S. actions will not help.
“The drug trafficking issue in Mexico is so big and complex that it can be controlled but not solved in the near time,” he adds.
“The United States can’t threaten [to enter] Mexico the same way as they did in Venezuela; both Mexico and Venezuela are rich in oil, and that’s what Trump wants,” Salvador says.
In the wake of the conflict between the U.S. and Venezuela and Iran, Salvador criticises international organisations like the United Nations as deficient.
“Yes, Venezuela is run by a dictatorship and the same thing goes to Iran, but the United States are far from being the good guys in history,” he says.
“It is ridiculous how international organisations are reacting to these events; there is a clear bias towards the United States and their allies,” Salvador adds.
Danielle Espinoza, a 24-year-old student from Chile, agrees that the Trump administration cannot be trusted to govern Venezuela, and taking the dictator out of the country does not give actual freedom or democracy to the country.
“I think the U.S intended to impose ideology and power in the world, at the same time, taking away the natural resources in Venezuela,” he says.
As a South American, Espinoza thinks the dictatorship in Venezuela should be overthrown in the same way Chile did in the past, and that change must come from within the country and be driven by its own people.
Chile gained democracy in 1988 when Chileans voted out dictator Pinochet in a national referendum after years of protests and strikes.
Chile is in the southern part of South America, and Venezuela is in the northern part. Even though Chile and Venezuela are far apart, the Chilean student still worries about the future of their country.
“The U.S. keeps Venezuela’s president as a way to expand its empire. They may invade Chile, just like Venezuela, and take away our resources,” Espinoza says.
Edited by Alexa Lau
Sub-edited by Mike Chu
