COLOMBIA: Real change has not come to Venezuela despite Nicolas Maduro’s ouster as president and the armed forces remain loyal to the regime: that was the blunt assessment Monday of former security operatives living in exile. Last weekend, from the Colombian-Venezuelan border, Williams Cancino watched the spectacular US snatch-and-grab of his ex-boss and president. He hoped it could be the beginning of freedom for Venezuela, after a quarter century of repression, economic depression and one-party rule.

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was captured by fighters of the elite Delta force unit of the US army оn January 3, 2026

COLOMBIA: Real change has not come to Venezuela despite Nicolas Maduro’s ouster as president and the armed forces remain loyal to the regime: that was the blunt assessment Monday…

With the repressive machinery Maduro used still in place, many Venezuelans are scared to celebrate his departure.