\u00a0are reacting to news that Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro is in custody.<\/a> On Sunday, a large group of protesters gathered in the Galleria at the intersection of Westheimer and Post Oak.<\/p>\nElizabeth Peters expressed opposition to U.S. involvement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel really strongly about how there shouldn\u2019t be more U.S. interference in Venezuela,\u201d Peters said.<\/p>\n
Maria, a woman who moved to Houston from Venezuela at 9 years old, said the situation has left her thinking about family members still living there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just got a call from my uncle. He said there are parts of Caracas that don\u2019t have power right now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
With Maduro currently in custody, Maria said she feels a renewed sense of hope, though uncertainty remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people are really hopeful, but people are scared to share that hope in the [Venezuelan] streets,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
On the streets of Houston, protest organizers said U.S. involvement in Venezuela could have serious economic and political consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re feeling if [President] Trump has the power to kidnap a head of state and bring him back to a foreign country, what does that mean for the rest of us?\u201d Caleb Kurowski, one organizer, said.<\/p>\n
The same day as the Houston protest against Maduro\u2019s capture, a different reaction unfolded in Katy, home to one of the country\u2019s largest Venezuelan communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s important to remember just like in the U.S., we have diverse opinions,\u201d Kurowski responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large portion of the population did support [Maduro], and those are the voices we never hear in the media. Obviously, we think we should represent all voices, but in particular those that support Maduro are always lost,\u201d the speaker added.<\/p>\n
Back in Houston, Maria said she hopes to help others better understand her perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand people that are only American, and they say, \u2018I don\u2019t want to be involved in other countries,\u2019 but as someone who\u2019s Venezuelan, I think it\u2019s more nuanced than that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Peters, however, the situation appears more straightforward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is amazing for the Venezuelan people to no longer be under the Maduro regime. It is insane that Trump thought we are the people to go in and do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Peters said she hopes the situation ultimately leads to a resolution that allows for a fair democracy for Venezuela\u2019s people.<\/p>\n
Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at\u00a0<\/strong>newstips@khou.com<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or call 713-521-4310 and include your name and the best way to reach you.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The arrest of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro sparks emotional responses in Houston’s Venezuelan community. HOUSTON \u2014 Several voices…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":493494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-493493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115841103772347979","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}