By Holly Carr

Staff Writer

On Jan 3, the United States led an intervention and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. With Texas having an estimated population of 122,000 Venezuelan Americans, many celebrations have sprung up, while other groups have begun to protest.  

Protests began across Texas after Maduros arrest was announced. People protesting believe that the U.S. is seeking control or influence of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves and potentially causing another prolonged conflict.  

“My issue with the Venezuela raid is the administration’s reasoning for why they raided Venezuela, when the real reason was for oil,” Damani Jones, and friend of Venezuelan Houston residents said.  

Even though the U.S. pulled out of Venezuela, the possibility of continuing to intervene in Venezuela is a concern. Anthony Jordan, a political science professor at UMHB said, “How long would the U.S. be there? Because Americans are worried, because we had boots on the ground in two countries for decades. I don’t think everybody wants that again, whether it’s close to home or not. We’re in a very turbulent period. I just don’t know what’s going to work out.” 

Supporters have countered these accusations by pointing to Maduros regime for accused human right abuses, and how promoting democracy to replace the authoritarian regime into a system can benefit Venezuelans. “The whole incident in Venezuela, as someone who has family there, is scary yet promising,” Alvaro Navas, a Venezuelan Houston resident, said, “I’m thinking that this will lead to consequences that not only will affect me here in the U.S., but my family that still lives in Venezuela.” 

President Maduro is currently being held for trial. The legal process is expected to be lengthy, with the next hearing set for March 17, 2026.