Jews in Caracas still face a murky situation, but one thing is clear: Now the regime answers to Trump

Photo: Shutterstock / Tomasz Podolski

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ver the past week, there has been an outbreak of “Venexplaining,” as many armchair theorists seem to have suddenly become experts on President Donald Trump’s decision to remove dictator Nicolás Maduro from power in Caracas. But what is really happening? How are people’s daily lives in Venezuela being affected by the rapid changes?

Mishpacha spoke with numerous Venezuelans on the ground to understand how they are experiencing these strange days. At their request, their names have been changed. This is largely due to the uncertain security situation for Jews following the turmoil of Maduro’s capture. Although the initial chaos has dissipated, the repercussions are still being felt — on the political situation, on the economy, on the country’s overall direction. There are still state militias patrolling the streets for anyone expressing anti-Maduro opinions, which they consider treasonous.

Maduro’s ouster has gradually made one thing clearer, though, and it came through in the words of the Venezuelans we spoke to: Now Caracas has to seek approval from Washington. And in certain ways, that is a big improvement.

But at first there was only the fog of a coup d’etat.

“The first seventy-two hours were sheer madness,” says Samuel, a man in his early sixties. “We tried not to leave the house, except to buy basic supplies. Food was hard to find, and whatever we could get, we bought. We avoided the streets as much as possible.”

In those early days, it was entirely unclear what would happen next: whether Donald Trump would dismantle the entire power structure erected by Hugo Chavez upon his 1999 seizure of power; or, alternatively, attempt to negotiate with the interim government now headed by Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, whom some describe as the dictator’s betrayer.

Rodríguez herself sent mixed signals. On the one hand, she railed against “the empire” to placate Chavista loyalists; on the other, she held daily conversations with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is apparently Venezuela’s new “viceroy.” All the uncertainty surrounding who would run the country did not merely fray nerves — it shattered what remained of the economy.

That was reflected especially in the plunging value of the national currency, the bolívar. As in many countries with heavily controlled economies, Venezuelans rely on the “parallel exchange market” — essentially, the unofficial foreign exchange, since few trust official figures.

“Inflation exploded,” explains Elías, 45. “Just to give you an idea — before the ‘problem,’ one dollar bought about 500 bolívars on the parallel market. By Monday, it was 900. And stores adjusted prices accordingly. You’d walk into a shop, and two hours later the prices had already changed.”

By the time this article went to press, the parallel rate had stabilized around 760 bolívars to the dollar — roughly a 50 percent depreciation since Maduro’s capture.

Within the Jewish community, the initial uncertainty plaguing the economy also extended into the religious realm. Shuls and schools closed their doors during the first three days after Maduro’s exit.

“But by Tuesday the minyanim were back, and the schools reopened,” says Samuel — though he notes that many parents hesitated to send their children, and full attendance resumed only by Thursday.

The prevailing feeling on the streets right now is one of betrayal. Maduro is gone — but his regime is still pulling the strings of power. Hopes that a new government would be installed, perhaps headed by Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader María Corina Machado, have been dashed. Donald Trump has been dismissive of her, and he seems to have cast his lot with Delcy Rodriguez, whom he calls “an ally.” Chinese and Russian influence is gone, but their client state is still mostly intact.

Trump is expected to meet with Machado this week at the White House. Some have suggested that the president felt that Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize should have gone to him last year. There has been speculation — half serious, half sardonic — that she might present it to him as a “gesture of gratitude.”

Delcy Rodríguez served under Hugo Chávez, remained at the center of power for two decades, and was Maduro’s vice president, selected through elections widely deemed fraudulent by international observers. Calling her a dictator would not be entirely inaccurate. But her cooperative attitude has ingratiated her to the White House, and Trump appears in no hurry to replace her.

Venezuelans remain curious about the fate of two other shadowy figures, both essential cogs in the oppressive Chavista machine: Diosdado Cabello, the minister of the interior and justice, who lost an internal power struggle with Nicolás Maduro to succeed Hugo Chávez; and the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López. For both men, the US has issued arrest warrants and offers of bounties: $25 million reward for information leading to Cabello’s capture, and for Padrino, $15 million.

Asked why Cabello and Padrino were not rounded up with Maduro, Marco Rubio suggested that attempting too many arrests at once would have been too risky, and it was a matter of priorities. Venezuelans are wondering whether these men will also be absorbed into the new geopolitical alignment — or whether they are next in line for the hoosegow, a one-way trip to an American prison.

“Look, it’s better than nothing,” Gregorio tells me from Caracas. “Of course, Delcy is part of Chavismo, but knowing that the United States will be keeping an eye on her — just that alone is better than what we had before.”

Like many Venezuelans, Gregorio dreams of a new round of free and democratic elections, though he concedes that “it doesn’t seem very likely in the short term.”

Rodríguez’s illegitimate mandate technically runs until 2030, though many hope that elections will be called within 18 months. In the meantime, the new government oscillates between authoritarian reflexes and conciliatory gestures toward Washington. In recent days, at least 17 political prisoners — out of more than 900 held in Venezuelan jails — have been released. At the same time, the presence of colectivos has increased.

“They’re paramilitary groups that stop people at random and check their phones to see if they’ve sent messages celebrating Maduro’s fall,” Samuel explains. “If they find anything, they arrest you for ‘treason.’ ”

On Erev Shabbos, Elías tells me that “the country is ninety percent normalized.”

By “normal,” he means life as it functioned under Maduro’s rule. “The only difference is the police checkpoints — which I imagine will ease up — and the fact that shops close earlier, because people don’t like being out at night.”

Beyond that, Elías says he went to synagogue wearing his kippah, and that despite the regime’s well-known anti-Israel rhetoric, the government had never taken action against the Jewish community.

“Venezuelans are very respectful,” he says. “More than once, when people saw me wearing a kippah, they asked me for a blessing.”

While voices — particularly on the left — have denounced the US operation as a “violation of Venezuelan sovereignty,” Samuel is blunt.

“Now everyone suddenly cares about sovereignty, but when Maduro was in power, they looked the other way,” he says. “I hear people complaining that Venezuelan oil is going to the United States. Do they think we benefited from it before? The Russians took it! Look, even if things stay exactly as they are now, I think the country will rebound. I don’t believe those Venezuelans who left the country will come back, but I do think things will improve.

“What do you prefer — Russia and China as your bosses, or the United States? I’d rather have the US above my government. It’s not ideal, of course — but it’s better than nothing.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1095)