STORY: Dozens of Venezuelans living in Lima gathered on Saturday (January 3) outside their national embassy to celebrate the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S.

Since the year 2000, some 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country, with 85% of them living in the Latin American region, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Neighboring Colombia has received the largest share of the diaspora, around 2,828,195, followed by Peru, that’s hosting 1,662,889, according to the R4V platform, a group of regional NGOs assisting migrants and refugees from Venezuela set up by the IOM.

The U.S. attacked Venezuela and deposed its long-serving autocratic President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday morning, President Donald Trump said, in Washington's most direct intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: LIMA, PERU (JANUARY 3, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. VENEZUELANS CELEBRATING OUTSIDE VENEZUELAN EMBASSY IN LIMA

2. VENEZUELAN CHANTING (Spanish): “Long live Maria Corina (Machado), long live to dancers”

3. VEHICLES HONKING

4. VENEZUELAN WAVING FLAG AND SAYING (Spanish): “Finally, Lord, thank you.”

5. VARIOUS OF VENEZUELANS WITH FLAGS

6. (SOUNDBITES) (Spanish) VENEZUELAN MIGRANT, MILAGROS ORTEGA, SAYING:

"I don't have family here, only my son. Having my parents in Venezuela, and having the hope that I can go—my parents, who are older adults and bedridden—and that I can say, 'I'm a nurse, I'm a therapist,' and that I can return to Venezuela to care for my father. And also, my dad, being a political leader in Venezuela, was able to see this change. He used to say, 'Daughter, when you go back—when this government leaves—you'll return to Venezuela.' And to know that my dad, in his lifetime, was able to see the fall of Nicolas Maduro—look, for me it's an emotion. I would like to see his face.'"

7. VARIOUS OF CELEBRATIONS OUTSIDE VENEZUELAN EMBASSY IN LIMA