DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
Here in the U.S., perhaps no place is following what's happening in Venezuela more closely than South Florida. It's home to the nation's largest population of Venezuelan expats. As news of the U.S. attack broke, hundreds of people turned out at a popular gathering spot to celebrate and sing.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in non-English language).
ESTRIN: NPR's Greg Allen is in Miami and joins us now. Greg, thanks for being here.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: Sure, Daniel.
ESTRIN: So tell us, where are you?
ALLEN: Well, I'm in a suburb of Miami called Doral. It's home to some 40% of - 40% of the residents here have their roots in Venezuela. I'm at El Arepazo restaurant, which is kind of a gathering spot here whenever something happens. People started arriving here very early, before sunrise today, shortly after President Trump posted on social media that U.S. forces had captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and flown them to an aircraft carrier, which is taking them out of the country. People here all day long have been waving Venezuelan flags. Vendors have been selling them out of their cars. They're singing, people embracing their friends and families. It's a real celebration that's been going on here all day today.
ESTRIN: Yeah, you can hear that in the background. What are the people you've been speaking with saying?
ALLEN: Well, people are just totally joyous. You know, this is something people have waited for for decades and which many really hardly thought was possible at this point. There are some concerns, though, now, about what happens next. I was speaking to Daniel Escalante (ph). He was here with his family today. He's been in the U.S. for some 26 years. He still has family members in Venezuela. And he says, it's a good thing that Maduro is out, for sure, but he's concerned about what happens next.
Particularly, they listened - his family all listened to President Trump's press conference, and they were concerned about President Trump's statement that the U.S. is now in charge in Venezuela. When I spoke to Mr. Escalante, he said, you know, the U.S. is going to stay in power till a transition is happening, but who knows how long that's going to take? And they say Venezuela's free and fair and safe to go back to soon, but who - really, who knows at this point?
ESTRIN: Yeah, what are they saying? Do they expect they'll be able to return with Maduro out?
ALLEN: Well, I think that, as one man said to me today, it's the beginning of the end. I think that the thought is that people are going to have to see what happens next and engage what's going on here. But with Trump's announcement today, I think many here do anticipate that they will eventually be able to go back soon to try to pick up the lives they lost there. You know, I spoke to a Cuban American who came out to support Venezuelans here today. She said the celebration today reminded her of the one in Miami after Cuban dictator Fidel Castro died, and she noted that, despite that, you know, the regime held on to power there in Cuba, and things really are worse than ever there now.
ESTRIN: Yeah, that's a good point. President Trump was popular with Venezuelan American voters in the last election. So what are they saying about Trump now?
ALLEN: Well, you know, there's not that many Venezuelan voters, but they do strongly support Trump, at least in the last election. That support declined, though in recent months, according to some polls, because of the crackdown in immigration. The Trump administration lifted temporary protective status for more than a half-million Venezuelans, and many Venezuelans now - Daniel Escalante told me that many Venezuelans are worried now about being deported to a country still in turmoil. He says, a lot of people he saw didn't come today. When they talked to them, they said, are you kidding? That's a perfect time for an ICE raid. So in the whole, I think Venezuelans are joyous, but a lot will depend now on what happens next and whether the transition back to democracy happens, as many hope it will.
ESTRIN: NPR's Greg Allen in Miami. Thank you.
ALLEN: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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