‘I’ve been waiting for this’

Venezuelan American Miriam Hidalgo, 66, woke up at 3 a.m. to a phone call she’s waited decades to receive.

Her brother, calling from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, told her that President Nicolás Maduro had been taken into custody, according to reports circulating in the country amid overnight explosions in the country’s capital, Caracas.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so many years,” Hidalgo told The Palm Beach Post near Mar-a-Lago, where she joined other supporters celebrating what they believe is a turning point for Venezuela. “After 30 years living in this country, to see the government doing something so wonderful, it makes me so happy.”

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Hidalgo, who grew up in Venezuela and moved to the United States in 1995 before Hugo Chávez rose to power, said she left because she sensed the country was heading toward instability. She raised her two daughters in Palm Beach County, where both later graduated from Florida Atlantic University.

Hidalgo credited President Donald Trump for what she described as decisive action against Maduro’s government.

“I give him my vote. I always believed in his power to control the government,” she said. “This is the right way.”

She urged Americans who oppose U.S. involvement abroad to reconsider. “Without this help, there will be no change,” she said. “Without help, Venezuela will never be free. Just like Cuba.”

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Gardens woman protests Maduro capture, calls presidency ‘lawless’

Paula McCleese, 74, of Palm Beach Gardens, said she wore diamond earrings to protest Trump as an act of celebration.

“Because he’s proved his ass,” she said. “He has totally proved who he is and what he’s going to do. He’s running roughshod over the American people, and they’re letting him.”

McCleese was one of nine protesters outside of Mar-a-Lago. They stood across the street from a crowd of Trump supporters about three times their size who wore MAGA hats and waved Venezuelan flags. The group of nine joked that while they opposed Trump, they wouldn’t mind if the leader of another country took a page from his book and brought him into custody.

“I am resisting this fascist regime that I’ve been forced to live under since 2016, with a little break from President Joe Biden,” McCleese said, holding a “Fight fascism” sign. “We are resisting the lawlessness of this presidency.”

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McCleese said her parents, whom she described as World War II survivors and Republicans, shaped her sense of civic responsibility and are “rolling in their graves.” She added that she was disappointed by the size of the demonstration but not surprised.

“I think people are in la la land,” she said. “They don’t feel the threat.”

Asked about the Venezuelan Americans across the street who said they welcomed the recent development as a chance for peace for the country, McCleese disagreed.

“No, no, Venezuelan people should be fighting,” she said. “What our leader did is break our own laws. Two wrongs do not make a right.”

She added that, had congress voted to approve the move, she likely would have supported it.

“We hate Trump!” shouted a man standing beside her. A passing driver shouted back: “We hate you!”

Congressional candidate shows up

Victoria Doyle, a congressional candidate from Lake Worth Beach, walked back and forth along Southern Boulevard waving a blue flag with a simple message: Vote.

Her voice cracked when she screamed at passing cars. The drivers who didn’t nod in agreement shook their heads, aimed their middle fingers, laughed, called her an idiot or ignored her entirely. One drew his thumb across his neck.

“Now he cares about brown people?” Doyle asked. “Make it make sense.”

He only cares about money, she said.

Groups scream at each other

By noon, two groups of Trump supporters had appeared outside of Mar-a-Lago. One group waved American flags, wore MAGA hats and screamed invectives at the small gathering of protestors across the street. The protesters screamed back, trading insults and curses as cars honked between them.

The other group, a minute’s walk west, showed less anger and more euphoria. They held Venezuelan flags, laughed, embraced, sang in Spanish and chanted: “Free Venezuela, free Venezuela, finally Venezuela is free!”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump supporters near Mar-a-Lago: ‘I’ve been waiting for this’