TAMPA, Fla. — With events unfolding in Venezuela, and political decisions being made in South Florida on Friday, about 15,000 Venezuelan Americans who call Tampa Bay home are concerned.
Hundreds rallied in Tampa this week to show solidarity, hoping democracy takes hold in Venezuela after nearly three decades of socialist dictatorships that have brought the country to its economic knees.
Juan Pinto and his family were among those attending that rally.
Pinto moved to the U.S. a little over 20 years ago, just as Hugo Chavez was taking power in Venezuela. But he and his wife have relatives and friends still there.
“When you see the violence, you get scared, not only because it’s friends and family, but because it’s Venezuela,” said Pinto. “These are people who all they want is the freedom and peace and, obviously to have a democratic country.”
Pinto, like hundreds of others here in Tampa, feels sad and helpless at times watching the unrest from here, knowing people are suffering in his homeland.
“So, we keep sending boxes with food most of the time,” said Pinto, “And medicine to families and friends.”
What happens in Venezuela could also have a huge impact on another population here in Tampa Bay: the local Cuban community.
“If they lose Venezuela, they are going to be in trouble,” said Yanko Maceda, a Cuban-American who owns a popular cigar business in Tampa’s Ybor City.
Maceda hopes a return to democracy in Venezuela will create a domino effect, dealing a death blow to the Castro regime. Venezuela is one of Cuba’s last and biggest financial supporters.
“If Venezuela goes back to democracy, it’s going to be a good push,” said Maceda. “It’s going to be a push for Cuba to keep going forward understanding that that system doesn’t work anymore.”
Local Venezuelans say they don’t want to see a military conflict. They believe there’s a diplomatic solution.
But they also know this is the first real opportunity in decades to return to their country to what it once was.
“I don’t want to say it’s the last one,” said Pinto, “But, many people say it’s the last opportunity we will have to get the freedom we need in Venezuela.”
If Venezuela returns to democratic rule, Pinto says he and others are prepared to move back there.
America, he says has been good to them. And he’s grateful. But their heart is in their homeland.
“You have those people that really want to go back to their houses, back to their families mainly, and go back to their life like they had before,” said Pinto. “They are glad to be here, they are happy, I can tell you. But still, they definitely want to go back. Venezuela is your country, so you want to go back.”
Members of the Tampa Bay’s Venezuelan community are planning another demonstration Saturday in Tampa near the corner of Dale Mabry Highway and Columbus Avenue. That rally is expected to start at about 10 a.m. and continue until about 2 p.m.
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