By Kat Wong

Australia’s Venezuelan community are battling mixed feelings after the US captured the country’s president and threatened to place the Latin American nation under its control.

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is now in New York and under guard after US President Donald Trump played up the attack in Caracas and unveiled plans to tap the country’s substantial oil reserves and sell its resources to pay for the American operation on Saturday, Australian time.

The swift military offensive follows months of escalating tensions between the US and Venezuela, and the Venezuelan diaspora in Australia has urged their community to treat each other with care.

“Many of us have experienced forced separation from loved ones, exile, and the long-term impacts of authoritarian rule,” the Venezuelan Australian Association told AAP in a statement on Sunday.

“These experiences continue to shape our lives, even as we rebuild far from home.

“This news carries profound and complex emotions.

“In moments like this, our shared hope remains for a free, democratic, and united Venezuela where people can live with dignity, safety and opportunity.”

More than 6600 people born in Venezuela are living in Australia, according to the 2021 census, and estimates suggest about 10,000 residents have Venezuelan ancestry.

The federal government is monitoring the situation in Venezuela.

“We urge all parties to support dialogue and diplomacy in order to secure regional stability and prevent escalation,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement on Sunday.

“Australia has long held concerns about the situation in Venezuela, including the need to respect democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“We continue to support international law and a peaceful, democratic transition in Venezuela that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people.

Though many world leaders have taken a cautious tone, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer explicitly branded Mr Maduro an “illegitimate president” while French President Emmanuel Macron said his Venezuelan counterpart had “gravely undermined the dignity of his own people”.

Australia’s federal opposition took a similar stance, welcoming news of Mr Maduro’s capture.

“Under his rule, Venezuela has endured years of repression, systemic human rights abuses, corruption, and the crushing of basic democratic freedoms,” Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said in a joint statement.

But an anti-war contingent of Labor Party members has urged Australia to distance itself from the Trump administration’s actions.

“The Australian Labor government must speak out clearly against Donald Trump’s act of piracy, brazen military aggression and adventurism,” Labor Against War wrote in a statement.

Greens senator David Shoebridge echoed the sentiment, saying the US attack was about resources, oil and dominance, rather than self-defence.

Protesters are expected to take to the streets in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth on Sunday evening to condemn the US action.

The federal government’s advice website SmartTraveller on Sunday warned Australians not to travel to the Latin American country due to the unpredictable security situation.

Australia does not have an embassy or consulate in Venezuela and those in the region who need assistance have been urged to contact the government’s emergency consular assistance team.

The Venezuelan government in October announced it would close its Australian embassy in a “strategic re-assignation of resources” as tensions continued to escalate between the US and Mr Maduro’s administration.

Mr Trump has said the US will “run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”, but gave no further details on how this would happen.

Mr Maduro’s government appears to still be in charge and all eyes are on his Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

Mr Trump has also said opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was awarded last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, didn’t have the support to run the country.

The US has previously accused Mr Maduro of running a narco-state and rigging the country’s 2024 national election, claims the ousted president has denied.
with agencies