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Americans woke up early Saturday to the news that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro had been captured and was on his way to a Brooklyn jail. The headline ignited a mixture of feelings for Venezuelans living in the United States, including those among a growing community in Central Illinois.
When Alvaro Bello moved to Bloomington-Normal in 2017, he knew of about six Venezuelan families between Pontiac and Champaign. Now, he said there are enough Venezuelans here for a baseball team—one of the country's most popular sports. Once impossible-to-find ingredients for Venezuelan foods are now available at Walmart.
Bello is among approximately 8 million Venezuelans who left the country amid a dire economic and humanitarian crisis associated with Maduro’s autocratic regime. Bello’s godmother, Marinelly Castillo, teaches Spanish at Illinois State University and encouraged him to visit.
Bello initially traveled to the U.S. on a tourist visa. He fell in love with Chicago and Central Illinois and decided to move here. He studied law in Venezuela, and for six years has worked for the Normal-based nonprofit Immigration Project, where he is accredited by the Department of Justice to assist immigrants with processing their paperwork. [Bello spoke with WGLT for this story as a private citizen and not on behalf of the Immigration Project.]
Bello’s father, Juan, plus his mother and brother came to Bloomington-Normal a year after him, in 2018.
“In Venezuela, that government destroyed everything,” said Juan Bello. “The Maduro government has [1,800] in the jail. Political jail. Almost 3,000 or 5,000 people killed in the street. Only one reason, because they were opposite to Maduro government.”
Juan Bello was part of an unsuccessful resistance against Maduro's regime in 2017 and 2018.
“We lost, because we [didn’t] have guns,” he said. “The United States helped us a lot. I must say that. But we lost.”
Juan Bello was granted asylum, got his green card and became an American citizen. He now works with special needs students in Unit 5 schools. He said he loves his job. For him, it's a way to give back to the U.S. for helping his family.
Alvaro Bello had a similar path. He became a citizen in 2023—a little before his dad.
“Bloomington-Normal is like my home right now,” he said. “I’m feeling I’m ‘blocal.’ It’s so welcoming here. People are awesome.”
Prior to Bloomington-Normal, Alvaro Bello lived in Barquisimeto, a city of over 1 million people in the central-west region of Venezuela. Juan was living in Caracas before coming to the United States.
Alvaro said the size and culture in Bloomington-Normal “are perfect for me.”
In Washington, Congress is arguing the legality of the raid removing Nicolas Maduro. Whether it was a military strike or a law enforcement maneuver. Whether the administration should have asked for permission from Congress or whether the operation falls under the President's war-time powers. Whether the charges against Maduro as an alleged narco-terrorist facilitating drug trafficking to the United States justified deposing the de-facto leader of another country. Or whether this is all just about oil.
When the Bellos heard the news that Maduro was on his way to New York, they felt a mixture of emotions.
“We are happy to see him in handcuffs,” said Alvaro Bello. “There is a lot of joy, not only outside Venezuela, but inside the country. I know people are not celebrating in Venezuela, but the only reason for that is because they are scared. The head of the government is in the United States in prison, but the vast majority of them are still running the country.”
Uncertainty and optimism
President Trump has offered mixed messaging about the rationale for the raid, which included bombings in the capital city of Caracas. U.S. officials say the operation killed about 75 people and injured about half-a-dozen American troops.
Illinois' two Democratic senators have a vested interest. The junior senator, Tammy Duckworth, is a combat veteran who said in a news conference this week that the operation in Venezuela felt familiar.
“I’ve flown in a war that was fought over oil,” she said.
The Black Hawk helicopter she operated was hit in 2004 by Iraqi insurgents, resulting in the loss of both legs.
“I went not because I supported the war,” she said. “Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. He was a dictator. And he deserved to be removed from power. However, the problem we have is that it is not the American people’s responsibility to go around the world removing dictators from power and then running foreign countries when we have problems here at home.”
Sen. Dick Durbin spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday. He visited Venezuela in 2018 as President Maduro sought another term and declared victory in what is largely considered a sham election. Durbin said he urged Maduro to install international observers to verify the election’s results.
“He ignored my advice, which was no surprise,” Durbin said. “He claimed victory which others said didn’t happen. Did it again a few years later. And so, he discredited himself in the eyes of the world community, and his country continued to suffer. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Venezuelans abandoned Venezuela, saying it was impossible to live there under his authoritarian rule without the basics of life: food, medicine and shelter.”
Durbin said he worries about the Trump administration's ability to follow-through and regain stability in Venezuela and throughout the region.
That is also a concern for the Bellos. They still have family in Venezuela and worry about what happens now. President Trump has said he's "running" the country with the cooperation of acting president Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro's number two and a central figure in the country's communist regime.
“It’s like a table,” said Juan Bello. “Maduro was one leg. Take only Maduro back and other people, evil people, [are] there. It’s dangerous there.”
But the Bellos feel the situation in Venezuela couldn't have gotten much worse, seeing Maduro's removal as a first step to improving life in Venezuela. Alvaro wants people to know that Venezuelans are good people. He hopes to travel there one day, to show his American-born child where he comes from. Juan Bello hopes he, too, can go to Venezuela to see his parents while they're still alive. Both still live there and are in their 90s. He said he risks being killed or jailed by traveling there now.
