DORAL, Florida — After hearing the news, it didn’t take long for Venezuelans across south Florida to gather outside El Arepazo, a popular restaurant for the diaspora community here. The revelry started in the wee hours on Saturday, shortly after reports of early morning explosions across the Venezuelan capital spread through WhatsApp group chats and broadcast television outlets: President Donald Trump had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
People draped in Venezuelan flags danced, sang and chanted “¡Venezuela libre!” for hours. Cars along the street outside El Arepazo honked continuously as more and more people came trickling in to contribute to the chorus. Some even brought dogs wearing the colors of Venezuela’s national soccer team and small Venezuelan flags tied around their collars.
Doral City Councilman Rafael Pineyro, the only Venezuelan on the council, was over 200 miles away in Orlando when he got a call at 1:30. By 5 a.m., he was in his car, heading for El Arepazo…