Venezuelan living in N.L. celebrating United States capture of President Nicolás Maduro
CBC
The United States' capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, is an event worth celebrating for one Venezuelan refugee living in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“This was the help we were waiting to get out of the reparation and dictatorship in our country,” Geraldine Pacheco told CBC News on Saturday.
Pacheco arrived in St. John’s with her husband and two small children from the South American country through a humanitarian aid visa in 2024.
“The situation in Venezuela is very difficult, very difficult,” she said, adding that her parents and sister still live in the country.
“They are happy about what is happening because they want to live in a free Venezuela. Right now, they live with fears, repression… and no food, no supplies,” Pacheco said.
The U.S. hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and moved Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.
Venezuelan ruling party leader Nahum Fernández told The Associated Press that Maduro and his wife were at their home within the Fort Tiuna military installation when they were captured.
"That's where they bombed," he said. "And, there, they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country."
Maduro and his wife have since been indicted in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media platform X.
Bondi added that the couple will “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts."
The situation marks Washington's most direct intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama.
Multiple explosions rang out, and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas, the capital of the oil-rich nation, early Saturday, as Maduro’s government immediately accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations.
The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.
Pacheco doesn’t see it that way.
While U.S. President Donald Trump tries to convince allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, he is also sending 2,500 marines to the region — the first deployment of U.S. troops since it and Israel first attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
Management with the Southern Shore Breakers junior hockey team say the suspensions handed out following a March 7 rumble at the Goulds Arena in St. John's are excessive, and plan to appeal the discipline with Hockey NL.
On Hollywood's biggest night, newly crowned Oscar winner Tamara Deverell used her time in the spotlight to condemn the Nova Scotia government for cutting millions of dollars of support to the province's arts sector in this year's budget.
A campaign to convince the 17,000 New Brunswick households that have refused the installation of a smart meter to change their minds will likely be launched in June, the utility's ongoing rate hearing was told on Monday.
The City of Montreal is scrapping a plan to remove trash cans from La Fontaine Park this summer.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is no longer offering a timeline for the opening of a supervised consumption site in Winnipeg, emphasizing the province wants it to be done properly rather than quickly.
A faulty e-bike battery caused Friday night's blaze in Saskatoon's North Industrial area, a fire investigator has determined.
Premier Scott Moe called on NDP Leader Carla Beck to fire newly-appointed campaign manager Jeremy Nolais after he sent what Moe called a "dangerous" fundraising email to NDP members over the weekend.
Five months ago, Dr. Anne Herdman Royal began a new job in Canada. Driven out of the United States by a shifting political landscape and a mass shooting at the hospital where she worked in Tulsa, Okla., it had become a country she no longer wanted to call home.
Alberta's government — along with the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, and the province’s energy regulator — say they want to crack down on oil and gas companies that don’t pay their property taxes.
Ottawa will now allow rural businesses to employ more temporary foreign workers to help supplement the local workforce, a move Restaurants Canada says will help some restaurants on P.E.I. keep their doors open.
The City of Calgary is reminding people to save water after a recent spike in usage.
The number of visitors to food banks in Mississauga has nearly doubled since the height of the pandemic, says the city's largest food security organization.