Venezuelans in Canada share mixed emotions in wake of Maduro’s capture

TORONTO — Venezuelans in Canada are dealing with a mix of emotions after the United States captured the country’s president and his wife.

U.S. President Donald Trump stunned the world Saturday by ordering a military raid on the Venezuelan capital, seizing President Nicolas Maduro and bringing him to New York to face charges.

The move has challenged international law and could drastically reshape the situation in Venezuela, where violent repression and economic mismanagement, coupled with Western sanctions, have driven a migration crisis across North and South America.

Rebecca Sarfatti, co-founder of the Canada Venezuela Democracy Forum, said taking Maduro out of the country is “a huge step” that should be celebrated.

But she said now it’s time to restore the rule of law and democracy in the country — starting with bringing Maduro to trial.

“We need to be able to have him bring to international law, to be able to trial him for the human rights violation and everything that has happened during his period at least,” she said.

While she said she feels Canada has been a strong ally to Venezuelans in the past, this transition has to be led by Venezuelans themselves.

Sarfatti said she has advocated for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela through the forum since moving to Canada 25 years ago. The forum is led by Venezuelans across different provinces who organize petitions and demonstrations and lobby to raise awareness.

Sarfatti also created a social media group called Venezolanos en Toronto which has more than 14,000 members on Facebook and other platforms.

Venezuelan-Canadian Igor Marín, who has been living in Canada for the last 16 years, said he fears for the safety and well-being of his brother back home.

Marín said his brother, Lt. Col. Igbert Marín Chaparro, is one of the country’s highest-profile political prisoners.

Last year, the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention condemned Chaparro’s imprisonment as unlawful, demanded his immediate release and called for reparations.

Chaparro has been held in prison since March 2018 and his sentence of seven years and seven months ended in September 2025.

“The main concern for the families of all these prisoners is what is going to happen to them, how this is going to be impacting them,” he said. “There is hope at the same time that they can be released, but there is also fear that retaliations can be taken against the prisoners.”

Marín said his brother hasn’t been able to speak with or send letters to his family abroad — including his 8-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son, now living in the U.S. — for the past two years. He said he is allowed to communicate only with family currently in Venezuela but is not permitted phone calls or video calls.

“It’s not only about oil … It’s making sure that the human rights are not violated to any of the population in Venezuela, but specifically against the political prisoners,” he said.

Marín said the reactions of Prime Minister Mark Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand to Maduro’s capture fell short of addressing the human rights angle.

“Canada has been always a lead in defending the human rights everywhere in the world,” he said.

He said this is a “a golden opportunity for Canada to show that they are there with the human rights” and to take the lead in advocating for the release of political prisoners.

Over in British Columbia, Ivan Contramaestre, director of his province’s Venezuelan Canadian Society, said the community is feeling a mix of emotions which he describes as “cautious optimism.”

“Removing one person from a dictatorship is only one person. It’s not getting rid of the entire machinery that goes behind it,” he said.

Contramaestre said a transition to a legitimate government in Venezuela doesn’t seem to be a priority for Washington.

“It seems like they want to appoint somebody to lead the country. And we know that that’s not going to be enough,” he said. “It needs to be in the hands of the president-elect Edmundo González and then from that we can just start restoring democracy fully.”

He said there is a large role for Canada and the European Union to play in supporting a stable transition of power and rebuilding infrastructure.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2026

— With files from Dylan Robertson

Fatima Raza, The Canadian Press