As Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro made his first court appearance in New York Monday, many in the country's global diaspora are celebrating his ouster.
Yasmielen Beatswine, a former journalist, fled Venezuela nine years ago, she said, after her reporting on the government's human rights abuses led to threats against her.
Beatswine, who now lives in Portland, said she welcomed the news of Maduro's ouster, because years of popular resistance had so far failed to bring about durable change.
"We tried through peaceful protest, we tried through elections, we tried by going to international organizations and denouncing crimes against humanity," she said, in Spanish.
But she said what this means for the future of the country remains highly uncertain, without clear plans for a political transition.
Mery Estrada, another Venezuelan living in Maine, said she's been here for about a year and a half after fleeing her home country due to the deteriorating political situation there.
She said she was happy to hear of Maduro's arrest, but acknowledged that wholesale political change would not come quickly.
"We are in a process of transition," Estrada said, in Spanish.
But what that transition will look like remains unclear. President Trump has said the U.S. will "run" Venezuela for an unspecified period of time. He has also focused on gaining access to the country's vast oil reserves.
Beatswine wants to see the country hold elections, but said that could take some time.
