Venezuelans hunker down, apprehensive about what comes next

CNN

By Tim Lister, CNN

(CNN) — Venezuela is entering a new and very uncertain era after the sudden capture and removal of Nicolás Maduro, the country’s president for the last 12 years.

Amid widespread apprehension about what comes next, the streets of the capital Caracas and other cities have been quiet. People are apprehensive about being out and about, with the security forces on edge. But there has been little sign of the government-backed paramilitary groups known as colectivos on the streets.

Those that have ventured out have one priority: Stocking up on basic supplies in case the capital sees clashes or looting. There’s no sign of panic buying but Venezuelans are used to stocking up whenever there is a crisis.

Videos obtained by CNN on Saturday showed mostly empty streets, but long lines as people gathered at supermarkets and pharmacies.

“You can’t hear anything on the streets except the birds singing,” reported journalist Mary Mena Sunday.

Opposition supporters are celebrating in private, but there have been no rallies supporting the US action. Mena said they are likely to keep their heads down unless leading opposition figures can show they have support among Venezuelan officials or military commanders.

Little information is trickling in from other cities. Reuters reported long lines for groceries in the city of Maracaibo, an oil hub. Jairo Chacin, 39, a mechanic and workshop owner there, said he had “gone out to check on my business because I was afraid of looting, but the street is deserted.”

“I wanted to fill up my gas tank, but the service stations are already closed, so I took the opportunity to buy food because we don’t know what’s coming,” Chacin told Reuters. “Honestly, I have a mix of fear and joy.”

“I’ve just taken the dog out and it feels like an abandoned city, people are shut inside,” said Alejandra Palencia, 35, a psychologist in the city of Maracay. “There is fear and ⁠uncertainty,” she told Reuters.

That uncertainty is pervasive.

“I want to know what will come next,” said Nancy Pérez, a 74-year-old woman who went out to a bakery near her home in Valencia, central Venezuela.

Some Venezuelans are unhappy at the prospect of decisions for Venezuela being taken at the White House. As she stocked up on groceries in Caracas, Jenny Salazar told CNN: “I don’t agree with another president, outside of Venezuela, taking control of us Venezuelans.”

Trump said at a news conference Saturday that his administration will govern Venezuela “until there can be a transition.”

Teo Tilin, who lives in Miami and had traveled to Venezuela to visit his mother, was also apprehensive about how Venezuela would be governed. “How is it that (Donald Trump) is going to have control? What kind of control will you have? Where are the people who are going to control that? (…) I don’t know.”

A doctor in the capital who declined to give his name said the role of the military would be crucial.

“The position of the Venezuelan Armed Forces is fundamental. We have to wait and see how they are going to define themselves,” he said. He hoped for a rapprochement between the US and the Venezuelan opposition.

Under the Venezuelan Constitution, the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, is meant to call fresh elections within 60 days.

“I’m very interested in knowing what the transition will be like. What is the plan? Will she be in charge of the country and the organization of the elections? How can we trust it?” asked another Caracas resident.

State media in Venezuela has featured supporters of the regime with defiant messages for Trump. One young man told a live broadcast by Telesur on Saturday: “We are the children of (Hugo) Chávez, we achieved sovereignty, and we will not allow you, who think you are the world’s police, to change this.”

Chavez was president before Maduro, from 1999 to 2013, and the founder of what became known as Venezuela’s Bolivarian movement.

Rodriguez, who has been nominated as president by the Supreme Court now that Maduro is gone, has not spoken Sunday – but the government appears to be focused on continuity. Maduro frequently said that the regime will continue regardless of whether he was still president.

Authorities have said that the main international airport remains open and that the National Assembly will be sworn in on Monday as scheduled.

Many Venezuelans were surprised that Trump suggested the US could work with Rodriguez as the new head of state in Venezuela – deepening the uncertainty over the country’s future.

CNN’s Anabella González, Mary Mena and Alessandra Freitas contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.