As Floridians awoke to news ofU.S. strikes on Venezuela,Denisse Castillo was already celebrating.
The Venezuelan-born U.S. citizen came here at 15 with her mom and three siblings, but is in close touch with family in the South American country.
US bombs targets in Venezuela and captures Nicolás Maduro, Trump says
"Everyone is super thrilled," she said of the news that U.S. troops captured President Nicolás Maduro.
"He's the worst of the worst," she said, "running a criminal organization and giving away the country's land to the worst enemies of the United States. People need to realize that."
Thanks to social media platform WhatsApp, she says Venezuelans were aware military action was imminent and residents near its targets knew to stay put.
"My family lives very near military bases and they knew they needed to hide, though no one knew exactly when it would start until they began hearing explosions," she said.
"At first, they thought it might be fireworks, but then they started hearing the helicopters and stuff."
In a text to the Naples Daily News, U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds praised PresidentDonald Trumpfor the action and accused Maduro of using "foreign terrorist organizations to traffic deadly drugs and violence into our country, killing countless Americans. He was one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security," he wrote inan early morning X post.
"This morning, he was captured. This is 'Peace Through Strength.' Justice will be served."
Estimates of theVenezuelan population in Southwest Florida aren't precise, but the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent American Community Surveyshowed that there were approximately4,200 in Collier as of 2023, and 2,200 in Lee.
Castillo agrees with Trump's assertions that many of the recent immigrants are "people who hate the U.S.," she said.
As Cuba's Fidel Castro did in 1980, she says, Maduro released prisoners and mentally ill people, encouraging them to come to the U.S. "So you get the worst coming here."
Venezuelan immigrants were one of the groups theTrump administration targetedlast year as it rolled back temporary protected status for citizens from several countries, including Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Afghanistan and Yemen.
Amy Bennett Williams is a senior reporter focused on the environment. Reach her by emailing awilliams@news-press.com
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News:What are they saying about strikes on Venezuela, capture of Maduro?
