In light of the Trump Administration’s recent capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, this article explores SAS Social Studies teacher Maria Maldonaldo’s perspective on the Venezuelan community in Miami. 

Each year, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans attempt to cross the infamously hazardous Darien Gap in hopes of establishing a better future outside of their home country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees describes Venezuela’s refugee crisis as one of the largest in the world, estimating that, today, there are nearly 7.9 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants around the world. These displaced individuals left Venezuela as a result of extreme poverty, high crime, and a lack of social mobility, issues that were further exacerbated after the election of Nicolás Maduro as president in 2013.

Although there continues to be significant political and economic unrest within Venezuela, particularly after the Trump Administration’s recent capture of Maduro, it is also important to examine the lives of Venezuelans who have already left their home country. Shanghai American School social studies teacher Maria Maldonado had the opportunity to spend time with some of these migrants firsthand while teaching at a Florida school with a large Venezuelan student population, offering insight into their lives beyond their native country.

Ms. Maldonaldo taught at Doral, a city in the Miami metropolitan area, from 2010 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2021 before arriving at Shanghai American School. Doral hosts the largest concentration of Venezuelans in the U.S., earning it the nickname “Little Venezuela.”

Ms. Maldonado described the Venezuelan community as seeming split into “old-money” Venezuelans—the first wave of immigrants—and “working-class” Venezuelans, a second wave of migrants who arrived during the recent refugee crisis.

“You could hear, from some of their stories, differences in how they even got here,” Ms. Maldonado stated. These differences in stories reflect the shift in U.S.-Venezuela diplomatic relations: a severe reduction in the number of direct flights between Venezuela and the U.S. by the late 2000s forced newer immigrants to find alternate passageways, which were often more dangerous and required travel by land or sea.  

Despite their differences, these two waves of Venezuelan immigrants in Doral have merged with one another and share a rich culture, embedded in local restaurants, music, and supermarket stock. Working-class Venezuelans often choose to live near upper-class neighborhoods with their more affluent counterparts due to the comfort of sharing cultural ties.  “I think that being Venezuelan, and being Latin overall—because like I said, Miami is kind of a melting pot for a lot in culture—is a point of connection,” Ms. Maldonado remarked.

However, the transition to the United States has proved difficult for many immigrants. “What you have a lot in these kinds of migration cases is over-skilled workers for jobs,” Ms. Maldonado stated. “You have qualified lawyers and dentists working at a supermarket bagging your groceries.”

Despite these obstacles, as Venezuelan refugees have continued to integrate into American society, Ms. Maldonado notes that some people see the story of Venezuelan immigrants as the epitome of the American Dream. Others disagree, feeling that the American Dream is being diminished, with people content with a safe and stable life instead of striving for a truly prosperous life for themselves.

Ms. Maldonado further noted that, because many Venezuelan immigrants still have family members who have not left the country, Doral’s community remains passionate about politics and events in Venezuela. This manifested most clearly in the late 2010s, after Venezuelans mobilized in their streets to protest against Maduro’s government. In Doral, immigrants organized initiatives such as fundraisers and food drives to deliver aid to protesters and everyday Venezuelans alike.

Following Maduro’s arrest by the United States government, Ms. Maldonado closely followed local news coverage of Venezuelans in Doral. “There’s a gasoline station and two restaurants that people always kind of gather in,” she noted. “They all gathered in there and kind of were celebrating together.”

However, she also feels that many Venezuelan-Americans are now caught between their elation at Maduro’s arrest and fear of the Trump Administration and what its actions signify. She believes that life for Venezuelan immigrants will only become more difficult due to the growing anti-immigration sentiment in the U.S.

Regarding the complexities between Venezuela and the U.S., Ms. Maldonado has one message for the SAS student body: “I think overall, and this is true for all current events, is to remember that what we’re exposed to is often just one side of the argument and to understand that different people are affected by the same event in different ways. So be empathetic of different situations and directions.”