JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
It has been a whirlwind last few days in Venezuela. A U.S. military operation seized and removed President Nicolas Maduro. He pleaded not guilty in a federal court in New York, and Venezuela has a new interim president. Then gunfire erupted near the presidential palace in Caracas last night, raising fears over a power struggle. We've reached NPR's Eyder Peralta in the city of Cucuta in Colombia, just on the border with Venezuela. Hi there.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: Hey. So tell us what you're hearing and seeing there.
PERALTA: So, you know, we've made it within eyesight of Venezuela, but we have not gotten permission to go in as journalists. You know, we've still been talking to people who are coming in and out of Venezuela. Let's listen to what we've heard.
At the bridge that leads to Venezuela from Colombia, there's a whole lot of normal. Buses and motorcycles buzz across the frontier. The only hint that something is wrong are the Colombian soldiers and armored vehicles flanking one side of the bridge. Colombia militarized the border in case there was an exodus from Venezuela. Richard (ph), a 52-year-old Venezuelan, sells plantain chips on the bridge. Like others in this story, we're only using his first name because he fears retribution from the Venezuelan government. He says on the Venezuelan side, life goes on, but there is an air of uncertainty.
RICHARD: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "Nothing is clear yet," he says. All they have is questions. What if the U.S. launches a second strike? Can Venezuela's new acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, hang on to power? Richard shrugs. This isn't even a Venezuelan problem, he says. It's an oil problem.
RICHARD: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "I think if Venezuela didn't have oil, we wouldn't be going through all of this."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in Spanish).
PERALTA: We meet Eduardo Espinel (ph) at his sprawling Venezuelan restaurant in the middle of town. Espinel organized a celebration the night after Maduro was ousted. I ask how he's feeling now.
EDUARDO ESPINEL: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "Very happy," he says. "The worst thing Maduro did," he says, "was split up families."
Millions of Venezuelans fled repression and economic hardship. His own brother died in Trinidad, unable to receive cancer treatment. So he's thankful to the U.S., he says, for bringing Maduro to justice.
ESPINEL: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "Without the U.S., we wouldn't even have a possibility of freedom." Yes, he says, the same people are in charge. Yes, there is still a long road ahead. But he views this as a chess game.
ESPINEL: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "A chess game without their most powerful piece," he says, "is a game that we have a great chance of winning."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in Spanish).
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE CHUGGING)
PERALTA: As night falls at the International Bridge, Aida (ph), who is 72, heads back home to Venezuela. Back in 2019, there was great expectation of change. The Venezuelan opposition expected mass protests to force the military into backing Juan Guaido, and through this bridge he would make a triumphant return to his country as president. That never happened. And Aida says she's thinking about that moment right now. She's happy, she says.
AIDA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "But in the back of your mind, you're worried about what will actually happen." So there is only one thing to do.
AIDA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We trust in God," she says. "God willing, this is all for good."
SUMMERS: Reporting there from NPR's Eyder Peralta, who is back with us now. Eyder, it really sounds like some of that worry surfaced last evening with gunfire in Caracas.
PERALTA: It did, and residents also reported antiaircraft fire. And the fear was that a power - that a struggle for power had just started. But the government told local media that they were reacting to a drone, that nothing was wrong. Indeed, earlier in the day, Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as president by the Congress and the minister of defense said the military stood behind her.
SUMMERS: And what about Maria Corina Machado? She orchestrated what is widely seen as an electoral win last year and she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Where's she?
PERALTA: She's been left in the cold by the Trump administration and it's unclear whether there's a path for her to get back to Venezuela. She was on Fox News last night, and she praised Trump and she said that she was sure that her political party would come back to power.
SUMMERS: NPR's Eyder Peralta near Colombia's border with Venezuela. Thank you.
PERALTA: Thank you, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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