Future Tense

An HR professional in La Florida, a residential neighbourhood in downtown Caracas, was jolted awake by the sound of explosions at around 2 am on 3 January. She did not need to ask what they meant. For months, Venezuelans had been living with the expectation that the United States might take military action in their country, though no one knew how or when. While the United States had, for years, considered the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, to be illegitimate, citing election irregularities, the US president, Donald Trump, had escalated the situation since August 2025. Trump instituted a naval blockade of Venezuela, with the US military bombing fishing boats that it accused of drug-trafficking. It also began seizing Venezuelan oil tankers, in December. On 2 January, Trump announced that the military would conduct strikes inside Venezuela.

Rumours had swirled through the capital, with the possibilities ranging from a full-scale invasion to a limited surgical strike. The 52-year-old told me that she was not surprised by the attack but by how she felt. “A sense of relief washed over me,” she said. “We have suffered so much, and for so many years under this regime, that any action towards freedom feels essential—even one that requires the use of force.”

The relief was short-lived. By daybreak, news had spread across Caracas that US forces had abducted Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Maduro and Flores were taken to New York, where they were indicted on charges of narcoterrorism. “The days that followed were tense on the streets,” the HR professional said. “Paramilitary forces have begun stopping people, checking their phones. If they find anything that suggests support for the US or the opposition, they extort people for money. In some cases, they have taken people to prison.” Like everyone else I interviewed, she requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals by the government and its supporters.

This fear was shared even by traditional supporters of Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. In the Petare barrio, South America’s biggest slum and a stronghold of Chávismo—the populist ideology espoused by the ruling Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela—a 37-year-old custodial worker told me that the atmosphere had been heavy with tension since the 2024 presidential election. Most international observers had denounced the election as rigged, but Maduro was sworn in for a third term. The custodial worker said that everyone in Petare, and in other barrios, was opposed to Maduro and that the only people still supporting him are members of the government.