The streets of Venezuela have been plunged into chaos Saturday as gun-toting supporters of captured dictator Nicolás Maduro are rioting throughout the country and demanding his return — forcing citizens to hide in the safety of their homes, a terrified resident told The Post.
“The nightmare isn’t over yet. The figurehead is gone. But his supporters are still here,” one man living in Valencia told The Post, declining to reveal his identity: “I’m afraid that if I say anything and give my name, I’ll be arrested.”
“People are very scared. “
The man, 70, noted that it has been very difficult to get any information from the Venezuelan media.
The streets in his city are “absolutely dead” except for the Maduro supporters. People are only willing to leave their homes to rush to the supermarkets and wait on long lines to purchase dwindling supplies.
“People are shopping as if the world were ending tomorrow. There is still fear because it’s a military dictatorship that acts very harshly against any opposition,” the man said.
“There are still armed groups roaming the cities; we are all worried they will come to steal food, supplies, and intimidate us.”
The 70-year-old man had been anticipating US intervention since August and began stocking up on supplies.
Despite the fear and uncertainty, the man was elated about Maduro’s arrest and indictment, saying, “Anyone who doesn’t feel joy right now has a black soul.”
Maduro supporters were similarly storming the rubble of Caracas after the capital was blasted by airstrikes in the overnight attack.
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- Venezuelan opposition leader, 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado poised to take the place of Nicolas Maduro
“We want Maduro!” the so-called Chavistas, named after Maduro’s late Marxist mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chávez, cried.
Gas stations in the city have been shut down, and the metro and buses have been taken out of service.
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Most of the supermarkets are closed and swarms of people are lining around the few that are open — incluidng one shop that was only one person at a time is being let in to avoid a stampede, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
“I’m afraid there will be social unrest and we’ll go back to how things were before, with shortages. When I was young I could stand in line (to buy food), I can’t anymore,” an older resident from an outskirt of Caracas told the outlet.
Another resident said she wants to stock up on food, but can’t afford to.
“At home we buy only what we need because everything is very expensive and now we don’t have food,” she told EFE.
