‘I’ve waited 26 years’: Charlotte Venezuelans react to Maduro’s arrest

From behind the counter of his tiny store, The Latin Corner, surrounded by candies, snacks and other goods from his homeland of Venezuela, David Villanueva’s eyes are glued to a flat screen TV. Footage of armed guards outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan plays to the sound of chants from a growing crowd across the street.

Any moment now, Nicolás Maduro — the controversial president of Venezuela — will enter the building to make a plea on federal criminal charges. It’s a moment Villanueva has been waiting decades for.

“I’m so, so happy,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this. Twenty-six years for this moment. Thank you America. Bless this country.”

Thousands of miles away from their home country, Venezuelan Charlotteans are celebrating the capture and detainment of Maduro. Local Venezuelans say Maduro and leaders before him ran things in an oppressive way infringing on human rights, freedom of the press and the country’s overall growth.

North Carolina is home to more than 18,700 Venezuelans — some 3,200 live in Mecklenburg County.

While it’s unclear what the future will hold, it’s a first step to meaningful change, said Eugenia Zubillaga — Villanueva’s wife and co-owner of The Latin Corner. She and her husband emigrated from Venezuela in 2015. They opened The Latin Corner in response to their community’s growing population and a desire to give them a place to have a piece of home.

“It’s been 26 years of the crazy government not respecting human rights and selling basically all our oil and everything to countries that are not benefiting Venezuelan people,” she said. “So, there’s a lot of uncertainty. We’re not certain what’s going to happen but we see it as a process that is going to take probably not two weeks, not two months. It’s gonna take time to stop all this craziness.”

Maduro’s arrest and history in Venezuela

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured Saturday in Caracas, Venezuela and brought to New York City to face federal criminal charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation. The effort was the culmination of a months-long campaign by the Trump administration to pressure Maduro out of office.

Maduro pleaded not guilty Monday and insisted he was innocent, according to the New York Times.

The campaign against him began in August when the Trump administration put a $50 million bounty on Maduro, claiming he was the leader of a cartel responsible for trafficking drugs into the United States. Maduro was sworn in for a third term last January following a 2024 election “that was widely condemned as fraudulent by international observers and the opposition,” according to Reuters.

The way Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, led Venezuela the last 26 years was oppressive, says Arturo Uzcategui, spokesman for the Alliance for Venezuelans in Charlotte.

“You know, you didn’t feel free to speak your mind. You didn’t feel free to just go out and do normal things, normal life as we know it here in the States. You couldn’t do that in Venezuela if you were opposed to the government,” he said. “So that sense of freedom you didn’t have. What you had was a constant state of fear, constant state of uncertainty. Because you didn’t know what was going to happen next.”

North Carolina’s members of congress were split on their stance about the operation to end Maduro’s regime — some felt Trump acted without congressional authority while others said the action was justified.

Zubillaga said the manner in which Maduro was removed was necessary. Negotiations to remove him weren’t working, she said.

“We needed help from the international community. So we finally got help. It was the only way he wanted to go out.”

For those who are not Venezuelan, Uzcategui wants people to understand — despite their feelings on how it took place — how monumental this moment is for the country.

“Some people might not understand why that was happening, or why it happened... or, you know, some people might say it doesn’t fall under a legal situation or frame. But at the end of the day, Venezuelans, when, when we see that Maduro has been arrested, he’s out of office, and you know that government has been weakened, we realize that a better future and a better life for Venezuela is possible. Because now we are seeing progress.”

CLT flight impacts

Maduro’s capture not only impacted Charlotte’s Venezuelan community, but those traveling internationally to and from the Caribbean.

On Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. air travel during the operation to capture Maduro and his wife. By Saturday the ban was lifted, but several vacationers were forced into extended vacations waiting for their next trip home.

In response to the delays, American Airlines added 7,000 seats by adding flights and larger planes.

Charlotte resident Lilly Hall traveled to St. Thomas on vacation with her family and planned to return to Charlotte Saturday when her flight was canceled. Hotels around them were completely booked. Calls to American Airlines were met with long wait times.

Hall estimates her family spent thousands of extra dollars during their unplanned extended stay. She won’t be able to return to Charlotte until Wednesday.

“Obviously people are like ‘Vacation’s amazing!’, but it’s definitely a bigger financial burden and kind of just frustrating not being able to get home and start work again and getting behind, especially after the holidays,” Hall said.

News & Observer reporter David Raynor contributed to this story.

This story was originally published January 6, 2026 at 4:59 AM.