Vito Masi is a proud Venezuelan who could not believe what he was hearing when he tuned into the news this morning. To his astonishment, he heard that the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro had been deposed by US Delta force troops in a daring raid in the early hours of Saturday.
The 62-year-old engineering professor had been waiting for over 20 years to see the end of the Chavez and Maduro regimes, which he described as a criminal gang. “For many years we have been waiting for somebody to do something,” he explained. “That the only country that could help us is America shouldn’t stop me or other Venezuelans from opening our hands and saying ‘you’re very welcome’.”
The Venezuelan dictator was snatched from his house at 02:01 local time, before he had time to reach his steel-fortified safe place. The Pentagon said that more than 150 aircraft were used to get an extraction team into Caracas the capital, and that local government officials helped the US track Maduro’s location in the lead-up.
While many Western leaders have little sympathy for Maduro, some have questioned the legality of the military operation.
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez said his country “did not recognise” Maduro’s regime, but “nor will it recognise an intervention that violates international law”. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his government was taking time to decide if US actions broke international law.
Many are also sceptical about Donald Trump‘s motives for ordering regime change, arguing the US President is only interested in acquiring the country’s oil and minerals.
James Talarico, a Democratic state representative from Texas, noted in a social media post that Trump had promised oil executives “a great deal” if they donated $1 billion to his campaign.
“Today, he gave them Venezuela — home to the largest oil reserves in the world, he wrote. “This new war is not only illegal and reckless; it is deeply corrupt.”
But none of this worries Vito, who says it is only natural that the Americans would want something in return for their intervention.
“These guys are helping us,” he said. “Do they do that because they love Venezuelans, or because there are other interests?
“For sure there are economical interests. But after we gave the opportunity to Chavez to change our country, he then gave it to other countries – to the Russians, Iranians and Chinese. Look how my country is now – it is completely destroyed.”
Vito’s family moved to Venezuela in the 1950s from the southern Italian region of Basilicata to escape crushing poverty. Like many other Italians and European refugees, they helped build and create a prosperous country, with the family eventually starting its own successful business.
However, growing corruption and crime eventually persuaded Vito and his wife Maria Antonietta to leave for Canada in 1998.
Vito admits he voted for Hugo Chavez in that year’s elections via the Venezuelan Embassy in Toronto, believing his promises to fix the country, but soon regretted his decision.
“Chavez lied to me. He said he was going to help everybody, but he didn’t do it.”
Instead, he argued, both Chavez and Maduro ran the country as private fiefdom for the benefit of themselves and a small select group of government supporters – enriching the few, while the majority lived in poverty.
He recounted how his brother, on a recent trip back to Venezuela, could not believe how some shops were selling luxury items from Louis Vuitton and Cartier.
“That makes no sense in a country where people are starving and eating garbage from bins and there is not even clean water in your house,” he said. “How can you have that kind of luxury?”
Vito says his primary concern now is the rebuilding of his shattered country, and he is determined to play his part in its regeneration.
“My goal is to see the reconstruction of my country and the reconstruction of the Venezuelans,” he said.
“The only way to find prosperity and serenity is to keep in mind that Venezuela is not just for a small group of people. Venezuela belongs to the Venezuelans – all of them. And everybody should have access to education, health care and a dignified life.
“I’m still willing to help my country, even if I cannot go there. And that’s what every Venezuelan should be doing right now. They should be asking ‘what can I do for my country. How can I help my country right now?'”
