Most people in the diaspora here long for a new leader to replace President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, a country that hundreds of thousands have fled amid economic and political crisis in recent years.
"If there's one common sentiment among all Venezuelans, it's the hatred we have toward Chavismo and Maduro," said Andrea Gonzalez, 38, referring to the left-wing ideology named for Maduro's predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.
But differences arise over how to remove Maduro.
Some say force is the only option, especially after Maduro proclaimed himself president again in 2024 in elections that were deemed fraudulent by the opposition and other countries alike.
Others, fearful of the casualties of war, prefer to exhaust diplomatic avenues.
While the Trump administration has said it is targeting "narcoterrorists," many question the true motivation behind Washington's sudden military interest in the South American country with the most oil reserves on Earth.
Within the diaspora, Trump's image has been tarnished by his own immigration policy, which has cracked down on Venezuelans despite their overwhelming support for his pressure on Caracas.
In recent weeks, Washington has sent the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, along with a fleet of warships, and Trump declared Venezuelan airspace "completely closed" for a supposed operation against drug trafficking.
Trump also said that operations "by land" to stop alleged drug traffickers were imminent.
- 'Double-edged sword' -
From Caracas, Maduro has long claimed Washington intends to overthrow him.
And in Doral, near Miami, where more than 40 percent of the population is of Venezuelan origin, Diana Gonzalez hopes that is the case.
The 47-year-old interior designer supports a "100 percent" intervention in her country to overthrow a government she accuses of being corrupt, stealing elections and repressing its opponents.
After years of unsuccessful peaceful attempts, that's the only viable option, she said.
"We can't go on alone because it's an unfair fight between people with flags and people with weapons," she said, adding that "no one in Venezuela will fight for the regime."
Regarding the future, she envisions a government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader who is living in hiding.
But 66-year-old Carmen considers military intervention a "double-edged sword" for the country she left in 2020.
"If Maduro falls, it would be wonderful," she said, declining to give her last name. "But if that happens, there will be many deaths. A war between the two countries would be a catastrophe."
- Tensions -
Adelys Ferro, a Venezuelan activist for migrant rights, doubts the Trump administration's intentions for her country -- and tries to balance the personal with the political.
"In the midst of our desperation and desire for freedom, we have minimized what a war means," she said. "I can't put my desire to see my mother again above the lives of Venezuelans."
She believes if Washington wants change in Caracas, it should take advantage of the current pressures to force a peaceful transition. And she fears the consequences of a conflict for the country's inhabitants, including her mother.
In Doral, many prefer to avoid the topic and there is a reluctance to talking about Trump.
The mass arrests of Latino migrants promoted by his government and the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to some 600,000 Venezuelans under previous president Joe Biden's administration have hit the community hard.
And that has created tensions.
Andrea Gonzalez, who supports Trump's initiatives in Venezuela but criticizes his immigration policies stateside, has experienced those tensions personally.
"There are people in your family who" say she should be happy about the immigration raids and the end of immigration privileges "because you voted for that person," Gonzalez said.
"Resentment is building among Venezuelans."
She believes, however, that Trump can regain ground in her community if he successfully overthrows Maduro.
"The same people who have been deported wouldn't hate him so much if he achieved that," she said.
Trump confirms call with Maduro, Caracas slams US maneuvers
Caracas (AFP) Dec 1, 2025 -
US President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday he had recently spoken with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro amid soaring tensions between the two countries, while Caracas slammed what it called US preparations for an attack.
The United States is piling the pressure on Venezuela, with a major military buildup in the Caribbean, the designation of an alleged drug cartel run by Maduro as a terrorist group, and an ominous warning from Trump that Venezuelan airspace is "closed."
Washington says the aim of the military deployment launched in September is to curb drug trafficking in the region, but Caracas insists regime change is the ultimate goal.
"I wouldn't say it went well or badly. It was a phone call," Trump told reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One.
The New York Times reported Friday that Trump and Maduro had discussed a possible meeting, while The Wall Street Journal said Saturday that the conversation also included conditions of amnesty if Maduro were to step down.
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" talk show that the United States has offered Maduro the chance to leave his country for Russia or elsewhere.
The United States accuses Maduro, the political heir to Venezuela's late leftist leader Hugo Chavez, of heading the "Cartel of the Suns" and has issued a $50 million reward for his capture.
But Venezuela and countries that support it insist no such organization even exists.
Several Venezuela experts say what Washington calls the Cartel of the Suns refers to the corruption of senior officials by criminal gangs.
The United States also does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate winner of last year's presidential election.
Though Trump has not publicly threatened to use force against Maduro, he said in recent days that efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking "by land" would begin "very soon."
- Aid from OPEC? -
Venezuela says it has requested assistance from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which it is a member, to help "stop this (American) aggression, which is being readied with more and more force."
The request came in a letter from Maduro to the group, read by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who is also Venezuela's oil minister, during a virtual meeting of OPEC ministers.
Washington "is trying to seize Venezuela's vast oil reserves, the biggest in the world, by using military force," Maduro wrote in the letter.
Since September, US air strikes have targeted alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 83 people.
Trump's administration has offered no concrete evidence to back up the allegations behind its campaign, and numerous experts have questioned the legality of the operations.
US media reported Friday that in one strike in September, the US military conducted a follow-up strike that killed survivors of an initial attack.
The Washington Post and CNN said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had issued a directive to "kill everybody," but Trump said Sunday that Hegseth had denied giving such an order.
"We'll look into it, but no, I wouldn't have wanted that -- not a second strike," Trump told reporters. "Pete said he did not order the death of those two men."
- 'Extrajudicial executions' -
The head of Venezuela's legislature, Jorge Rodriguez, said he met Sunday with relatives of Venezuelans killed in the strikes.
He would not comment on a possible Trump-Maduro call.
But when asked about the report about the Hegseth order, he said: "If a war had been declared and led to such killings, we would be talking about war crimes."
"Given that no war has been declared, what happened...can only be characterized as murder or extrajudicial executions," he added.
The steady US military buildup has seen the world's largest aircraft carrier deployed to Caribbean waters, while American fighter jets and bombers have repeatedly flown off the Venezuelan coast in recent days.
Six airlines have canceled services to Venezuela, but on Sunday, the airport in Caracas was functioning as usual.
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