By: Valentina Palm/Staff Writer
Members of the University Venezuelan Student Alliance joined hundreds of Venezuelans in Doral to show support for the deposing of Nicolas Maduro and the rise of Juan Guaidó as the new interim president of Venezuela on Wednesday, Jan. 23.
Luisana Zambrano, president of the University’s Venezuelan Student Alliance, said her organization attended the gathering at the Downtown Doral Park to show solidarity with their country.
“It is important that as students and Venezuelans we are involved with all that is happening as we know it is a crucial moment for our history,” said Zambrano to Student Media. “We may be far, but not absent.”
Hundreds gathered in Downtown Doral Park to celebrate the swearing-in of Juan Guaido in Venezuela
Guaidó made the oath in Caracas, Venezuela earlier that day to be in charge of the government’s transition, as per the country’s constitution, and is calling for legitimate democratic elections in the country.
Guaidó was sworn in as president in response to Maduro placing himself in the position for another six years on Thursday, Jan. 10, after elections that were widely seen as illegitimate. The Venezuelan constitution mandates that if the President of the country is in power illegitimately, the President of the National Assembly must take power until fair elections are held.
Gabriela Meinhardt, a Venezuelan at the event, was passionately chanting and holding a banner.
“We are here gathered today to show our support for Guaidó and our National Assembly that we chose constitutionally,” said Meinhardt in Spanish to Student Media. “We want to be able to go back to our country because we are good and prepared people that had to flee the country and we are fighting abroad to heighten Venezuela’s name.”
The gathering lasting late into the night with people chanting songs of freedom, waving their flag and holding banners showing their support for Guaidó and their disapproval for the former president Nicolas Maduro.
“And it will fall, this government is going to fall,” sang the crowd gathered in the park, in Spanish. “And it has fallen, this government has already fallen! Long live Venezuela!”
January 23 also marks 61 years since the last dictator in Venezuela, Carlos Perez Jimenez, was overthrown. Many believe it’s a first step towards a meaningful shift of power since 1998 when Hugo Chavez was elected.
For Maria Diaz, a Venezuelan teacher who was visiting Miami and attended the gathering, the day represented the beginning of a change towards a new Venezuela.
“I am very hopeful and excited to again unite as Venezuelans so we can move forward and rise our country from the ashes they have left in order to reconstruct it, like the phoenix,” said Diaz in Spanish to Student Media.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez in attendance at the rally in Doral.
Even though a majority of countries in the Americas recognize Guaidó as the legitimate president of the Venezuela including the U.S., Canada, Colombia and most of Latin America, Maduro still controls the military who violently shut down demonstrators.
In two days, demonstrations all around Venezuela have resulted in 26 people dead and more than 300 civilians detained by the National Forces as of Friday, Jan. 25, according to Noticias Caracol.
With the support of the Venezuelan people and most right-leaning countries, Guaidó has offered Maduro and his closest allies amnesty. Guaidó recorded a video from an undisclosed location with Univision saying that “amnesty is on the table for anyone that chooses to side with the constitution.”
Maduro still has military power, however. Guaidó said in a message aimed at the country’s military that he wants the armed forces to “come to the side of the Venezuelan people.”
While it’s unclear as to what will happen next, as of press time, Jorge Scholtz, a student in the crowd, was eager to send a message in support for the Venezuelans back home.
“Never lose hope because every day we are closer, and I know that soon we will wake up to be free from this tyranny,” said Scholtz in Spanish to Student Media.
After the rally, members of VSA said that they are optimistic for the future of their country, but they remain hesitant to celebrate.
“We have to be patient because changes will not happen overnight, it will take some time,” said Aaron Perez, senior in economics and member of VSA. “We are desperate because the current regime is really bad, but we have to feel hope.”
Additional reporting by Joshua Ceballos.
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