BOGOTA, Colombia—Venezuelan refugees fleeing the socialist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro into Cucuta, a humid border town, say they have been inspired by President Donald Trump’s…
BOGOTA, Colombia—Venezuelan refugees fleeing the socialist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro into Cucuta, a humid border town, say they have been inspired by President Donald Trump’s address to the Venezuelan community that he gave in Miami on Feb. 18, fueling hope for change as the U. S. leader elevated their plight to the world stage.
More than three million Venezuelans have fled the poverty and famine in their homeland brought forth by years of socialist policies instituted by Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez. The exodus continues even as Maduro’s grip on the reins of the once oil-rich nation is facing its most significant challenge to date.
The National Assembly declared Maduro’s presidency illegitimate in January, with Juan Guaidó, the assembly leader, assuming interim presidency. President Donald Trump swiftly recognized Guaidó as the interim leader of the country as vast crowds flooded the streets of major Venezuelan cities in support of him.
In a speech to the Venezuelans in Miami, Trump reiterated his support for Guaidó, warning the Venezuelan military against backing Maduro, and excoriating socialism and communism as deadly, failed ideologies. Venezuelans’ fleeing the country via the border with Colombia told The Epoch Times that Trump’s speech is giving the nation hope.
“I feel hopeful because having the U. S. government support is very important to us, it helped us to be in the eye of the world,” said 30-year-old Jhuliana Hernandez. “Socialism needs to be eliminated from the Americas. I’m a Juan Guaidó supporter and I’m a supporter of democracy and freedom. I think corruption and socialism crippled Venezuela.”
Hernandez and the other refugees interviewed for this article crossed the border into Cúcuta, a Colombian border town which has borne the most strain due to migration from Venezuela. Every day, some 40,000 people cross the chaotic Simon Bolivar bridge, which connects Cúcuta with San Antonio, Venezuela.
“I feel my country now has hope, the speech reassured me because I now know that the United States is with us,” said Sharon Laleshka. “I do not think [what Trump said] was unwarranted criticism, I think it is the reality that my country is living. Socialism does not offer people progress, it makes them dependent and unproductive.
