‘Examination’ of a new country
This longing is shared by Angelica Angel, a 24-year-old student activist deported.
She grew up surrounded by tear gas and police beatings in Venezuela. She finally started protesting at the age of 15.
“They have pointed their guns at me, beaten me and almost arrested me. That’s when you know these people have no limits: they target the elderly, women and even little girls,” Angel said.
But increasing political repression eventually made her life unbearable in the college town of Mérida in western Venezuela.
After the disputed presidential election of 2024, Angel decided to vent her anger on social media.
Maduro claimed a third term in office despite evidence of a landslide defeat. The opposition coalition received more than 80 percent of the country’s voter turnout, indicating that their candidate Edmundo González had won the race.
Protests erupted again, and again Maduro’s government responded with force.
Military and security officials detained around 2,000 people, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights lawyers.
When Angel protested arbitrary arrests on TikTok, she started receiving daily threats.
During the day, anonymous phone calls warned her of her impending arrest. At night, she heard pro-government gangs on motorcycles circling her house.
Fearing arrest, she fled to Colombia in August 2024, leaving behind her family and friends.
But living outside of Venezuela gave her a new perspective. She realized that the threats, harassment and violence she had learned to live with were not normal in a democratic country.
“When you leave, you learn that it’s not normal to be afraid of the police, of stranger phone calls,” Angel said, her voice shaking. “I’m afraid to go back to my country and come back to that reality.”
In order for refugees to return safely to Venezuela, Angel believes certain benchmarks must be met. The interim government must end arbitrary detention and allow opposition members, many of whom have fled Venezuela, to return.
Only then, she explained, will Venezuela carry on Maduro’s legacy.
“The real test of whether a new country is taking shape is for refugees to be able to return,” she said.