Venezuelan restaurant owners in Gage Park react to Maduro's capture: "We waited for this moment"
Venezuelans in Chicago say they are excited to hear that Nicolás Maduro was captured and is in custody.
Local business owners who have reservations said they are hopeful for this new chapter.
Friends of brothers Gerardo and Alberto Villalobos woke up in Caracas, Venezuela, to military helicopters flying overhead and striking important Venezuelan military bases and seaports early Saturday morning.
"Yeah, very scared!" Gerardo said.
They said the attack was terrifying for their family and friends back home.
"Everything is bad, the drugs, violence," Gerardo said.
Their restaurant, Maiquetia, at 5706 S. Western Ave. in Gage Park, is full of Venezuelan pride, and food they want to share with Chicagoans.
"We come here because this country is freedom," Gerardo said.
Gerardo and Alberto have been in Chicago for three years and opened their restaurant here a few months ago. They moved to get away from what Maduro did to their country, but said now that the Trump administration has him in custody, it called for a celebration.
That's what broke out in Venezuelan streets when friends of the Villalobos got word that the Venezuelan president and his wife were captured and flown out of the country.
"I wouldn't hesitate to say more than 90%, if not more, of Venezuelans are very happy," Luciano Pedota, with the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance.
Pedota agrees with their sentiment and said many Venezuelans in America might go home.
"I have friends who two weeks ago they just packed up their bags and went back to Venezuela," he said.
Pedota said he is not surprised by the attack or arrest of Maduro, and that it's been a long time coming.
"Narco trafficking is a problem, and it is just really disrupting the livelihood of many people," he said.
"For 20 years we waited for this moment," Gerrado said.
Gerardo and Alberto said they are looking forward to the future, but plan to stay in Chicago for now, in a community they said has become their new home.
"We were excited. He hurt our people, so we are excited for this," Gerardo said.
The owners also said they are hopeful Maria Corina Machado becomes the next Venezuelan president. She is the Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader who was barred from running in the 2024 election.