‘They’re using us as pawns on their political chessboard’: How Venezuelans abroad feel the tension with the US

By Anabella Gonzalez, Joaquin Doria, Pau Mosquera, CNN

(CNN) — “They use us. Some use us as pawns in their political schemes, and others as collateral damage.”

This is how Adelys Ferro, who works at an NGO that advocates for the rights of Venezuelan immigrants, sums up the feelings of many Venezuelans living abroad after witnessing the growing tension between Venezuela and the United States, amid US President Donald Trump’s war gestures and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s call for militias to “defend the homeland.”

There is a thread that connects all the Venezuelans who spoke to CNN in Buenos Aires, Madrid and the United States. Although they are far away, they are accompanied by fear and concern about what might happen in their country, where many of them still have their families. And while they have not lost hope that the situation in Venezuela will improve, skepticism prevails.

“I don’t think anything will change. As long as the military is there, they will support the Venezuelan government,” Perla tells CNN from the door of her workplace, a restaurant that offers Venezuelan food in Buenos Aires.

Fear and skepticism

While the sparring between the US and Venezuela is historic, tensions began escalating on August 7, when US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that they were doubling the reward to $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.

The US has described Maduro as “one of the world’s largest drug traffickers,” the head of the Cartel of the Suns, and a threat to US national security — charges that both the Venezuelan government and other institutions have completely rejected.

Since then, US warships and military personnel have been deployed to the Venezuelan coast, and Maduro has announced the deployment of troops and militias, as well as a call for Venezuelans to join the Bolivarian Militia.

On Tuesday, the United States also carried out a lethal military strike against a suspected drug vessel linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, Trump announced. Eleven people died in the attack in “international waters,” the US president said.

“We don’t know what the United States wants to do or what its intention is,” says a young Venezuelan man who prefers not to give his name out of fear. He says he’s worried about what could happen in the country and fears that Venezuelans “will pay the consequences of the dispute” between Trump and Maduro.

“We also feel it even though we’re out of the country, because our relatives are there,” he added to CNN.

For another restaurant worker in Buenos Aires, it’s all about “pressure” being exerted by the United States on Venezuela. She doesn’t believe it will continue to escalate, but that doesn’t lessen her concern: that this could lead “to an invasion or violence,” she says.

Ferro, co-founder and executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, an NGO that advocates for the rights of Venezuelan immigrants, says she perceives a lot of doubt about what is really happening between the two countries. She believes many don’t believe that what the Trump administration is doing is real action against drug trafficking that could lead to change in Venezuela, and not just “political propaganda.”

“This already happened in 2019,” says Ferro, referring to the beginning of the dispute, when Trump established a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, after his then-attorney general, William Barr, announced charges of narcoterrorism and corruption against the president.

Interest, ‘liberation,’ the fight on drugs

Yahaira Treviño, a Venezuelan currently residing in Madrid, lives with her four children. She told CNN that she disagrees with the Maduro administration but distrusts the US government’s motivations. “He’s after the minerals in Venezuela, the oil, all the natural resources there are,” she said of Trump.

Treviño expresses concern about what might happen to the Venezuelan people if the two governments clash and escalate into armed conflict.

Andrés Roa, also in Madrid, says he never thought he would have to leave after so many years of working in his country, but says he no longer sees any way to stay in Venezuela.

He welcomes the fact that the United States government “is fighting drug trafficking” in his country and doesn’t believe there’s any danger of a US incursion.

“I know there’s talk of invading Venezuela, but I don’t see it happening that way,” he said.

“It’s hard because we’re seeing more concern every day,” says a young student in Buenos Aires, who expresses concern about the crisis her family is experiencing in the country.

“I hope the intention really is to liberate the country. We’ve been fighting this fight for too many years,” she says.

Ferro, for her part, points out that she sees “too many contradictory messages” in the US government’s actions, mentioning that this comes days after the United States and Venezuela held a prisoner exchange and resumed Venezuelan oil exports through Chevron.

“The truth is, we haven’t been spared, and it’s very hard to know they could be playing with us all again,” she says.

Impact on Venezuela and Maduro

María Zurbarán has an optimistic outlook. A young woman in her early twenties, she speaks to CNN from Madrid and, like many of her fellow citizens, says her parents live in Venezuela. She also has relatives in the United States. This keeps her closely following the tensions between the two countries.

“We are expectant. … What I would most like is for Venezuela to be free,” she said.

Weeks ago, the Maduro government organized registration days for the Bolivarian Militia and announced the deployment of more than 4 million militia members throughout the country: “No empire will touch the sacred soil of Venezuela.”

“Just another publicity stunt,” Ferro said of the Venezuelan government’s actions. She also feels that the US government is exploiting Venezuelans’ pain and desperation.

From a distance, these tensions seem far away, but Venezuelans live them every day with fear and uncertainty. Despite this, none of the Venezuelans CNN spoke with say they have lost hope.

The-CNN-Wire
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