Venezuelan communities hold meetings in Chicago area after US captures President Maduro

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Community meetings were planned across the Chicago area on Sunday after the U.S. military's strikes in Venezuela and capture of the South American country's president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife.

Protesters gathered in downtown Chicago on Saturday just hours after President Donald Trump announced details of the attack. Many say they are against his decision to carry it out.

Even as both Democratic politicians and protesters on Saturday came out to speak against the United States military intervention in Venezuela, on Sunday many in the state's Venezuelan diáspora came out to celebrate the removal of a leader they view as illegitimate.

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Federal Plaza in the Loop was packed with demonstrators pushing back against the Trump administration on Saturday. They say his actions were an unnecessary act of war.

Conversely, many Venezuelan nationals are happy to see the regime removed, but there are questions over how the operation was carried out without Congress being made aware.

SEE ALSO | Trump's plan to seize and revitalize Venezuela's oil industry faces major hurdles

Some demonstrators want the Trump administration to be focused on issues unfolding in the United States. Others ABC7 spoke with say this attack on Venezuela reminds them of previous U.S. involvement in international conflict.

Trump says the U.S. is going to run Venezuela in the interim until a transition can happen.

Maduro is currently being held in a Brooklyn, New York, detention center and faces drug and weapons charges. Venezuela's vice president, meanwhile, addressed the country on state television after the attack, calling for Maduro's release.

Sunday afternoon's community meetings took place in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood and in north suburban Schaumburg.

Gathering inside a Venezuelan restaurant in Schaumburg Sunday afternoon, dozens came out to celebrate the United States' removal and capture of Maduro.

"All Venezuelans here have to enjoy this moment. Maduro is in jail in New York," said Stiven Landaeta, a member of Vente Venezuela in Chicago.

The celebrants, many of whom held pictures of people they say are political prisoners in Venezuela include members of that country's opposition party, widely believed to have won last year's presidential election.

The party led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado is not by any means guaranteed a seat at the table now that Maduro is out of power. So while many Venezuelans here and abroad continue to celebrate-there is also concern regarding who will run the South American Country moving forward. With the Trump administration making it clear that for now at least they are trying to work with Maduro's Vice-President, Delcy Rodriguez.

In that regard, we're not very happy. We're cautious," said Luciano Pedota, President of the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance.

Those comments came at a second Venezuelan gathering taking place Sunday afternoon in Lakeview, hosted by the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance, formed eight years ago to help the growing number of Venezuelan migrants in the area.

"Eventually, because the opposition won the elections by 70% to 30% or something similar to that, the opposition will have to be a main player in politics in Venezuela. Otherwise it will not be acceptable," said Jose Morales with the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance.

Chicago's Venezuelan community has exploded over the last three years, with more than 50,000 believed to have arrived here since 2022. But those gathering Sunday said it's too early to even consider returning to their homeland, with so much of that nation's future still up in the air.