BUENOS AIRES (CN) — Many of the over 200,000 Venezuelans living in Argentina are still grasping the growing uncertainty around politics back home after Nicolás Maduro was inaugurated for a third term as Venezuela’s president earlier in January.
Maduro’s legitimacy, however, has faced widespread international and domestic scrutiny as his government failed to present credible evidence of his electoral victory in July amid widespread accusations of fraud from political leaders across the ideological spectrum inside and outside of Venezuela.
Over a quarter of the country’s population, nearly 8 million people, has left for economic or political reasons.
For some, Maduro’s inauguration was disheartening, diminishing their hopes of returning home soon. The day before he was sworn in, Venezuelan migrants gathered in Plaza de Mayo, Argentina’s main square, to protest against him — mirroring opposition marches organized in Venezuela and other diaspora cities.
Some right-wing local politicians affiliated with Argentine President Javier Milei’s government endorsed the protests.
Four thousand miles south of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, Leonardo González, a former teacher in Venezuela who now works as an Uber driver in Argentina, watched the news with despair. But he was not surprised.
“The day of the election was when my heart broke,” he said. “We all thought this could happen.”
A contentious election
In 2024, after the Venezuelan government imposed a series of electoral bans on opposition candidates, most of the opposition coalesced behind Edmundo González Urrutia, a 75-year-old long-time diplomat and politician who claimed to have won the election by a significant margin.
However, the National Electoral Council declared Maduro — a member of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela — the winner just hours after polls closed on Jan. 10.
Led by María Corina Machado — a fierce opposition leader who has sought support internationally and found alliances among right-wing leaders like Milei — the opposition released unofficial tallies suggesting that González Urrutia had secured at least two-thirds of the vote. The day after Maduro’s claim of victory, it set up websites to make the tallies official for people to see.
Independent analyses by organizations and foreign outlets, including The Washington Post, supported the opposition’s claims.
González Urrutia — exiled to Spain and engaged in a diplomatic tour to rally international support earlier in January, which included a meeting with former U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington — citing arrest warrants issued for him by Maduro’s government, did not even enter Venezuela, despite his prior pledges that he would.
Machado was in hiding inside Venezuela from the day after the July 28 election until Jan. 9, the day in which she led a protest against the government in Caracas.
Last year, the lack of transparency and widespread suspicions of fraud sparked protests across Venezuela and in diaspora hubs like Madrid and Buenos Aires. Within Venezuela, the demonstrations turned violent — more than 2,400 people were arrested, with 28 killed and around 200 injured.
International leaders, including Biden, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva and Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, demanded clear results from the government. It failed to provide them.
“It was shocking to witness their brazen fraud, the propaganda machine and their repression of dissent,” said Marisela Betancourt, a Venezuelan political analyst in Argentina and former supporter of the Chavist movement, in power since Chávez’s presidency in the late 1990s. She believes the disputed election marks a turning point.
“Chavism had never seized power by force before. Now they’re governing without winning the popular vote,” Betancourt added.
More recently, many of those who once supported Maduro and Chávez have become critical of the autocratic approach that the government has had. And seeing the lack of transparency in the last elections, many turned against the government for the first time in years.
Betancourt’s sentiments echo those of many in the diaspora who once supported the Chavist movement but now criticize its authoritarian turn. The lack of transparency in the election has eroded trust, sparking protests and fueling migration.
A disillusioned diaspora
For Venezuelans in Argentina, the political turmoil at home further dashed hopes of a merely temporary exile.
“We’re tired of [politicians] playing with our emotions,” said Andreina Di Giovanni, the owner of Venestore, a Venezuelan food shop in Buenos Aires. Like many in the diaspora, she closely follows developments back home.
While some nations like the United States have tightened restrictions on migrants, Argentina has expanded its resources for Venezuelans.
Recently, as the Milei government cut diplomatic ties with the Maduro regime following the July elections and shuttered Venezuelan embassies, Argentina began allowing Venezuelans with expired passports to enter the country regardless of their document status.
“Argentina has been exceptionally welcoming to Venezuelan migrants,” Di Giovanni. Her shop is located near the now-closed Venezuelan Embassy, a prime location that initially benefited her business. Escalating tensions between Milei and Maduro led to the embassy’s closure, with no plans for reopening in the short term.
Experts say the disputed election has fueled a fresh wave of migration, reflected in U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics showing a spike in encounters at the U.S.–Mexico border between August and October.
“The Venezuelan community in Argentina sees the country not as a long-term destination but as a temporary refuge,” said González, who has lived in Argentina with his wife and young child since 2017. “For most, countries that aren’t Venezuela are stepping stones, places of respite — not to root in.”
Over the past decade, the Venezuelan diaspora in Argentina has grown exponentially from 6,000 in 2013 to 220,000 in 2023, according to the International Organization for Migration. This makes Argentina one of the primary destinations for Venezuelan migrants, alongside countries like Colombia, Peru, Mexico and the U.S.
After the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House this week, under the promise of cracking down on migration — and a direct speech against Venezuelans, in particular, entering the United States — the arrival of migrants in other countries is likely to increase as people continue to flee Venezuela despite the obstacles to settle elsewhere.
Di Giovanni said she and her family, now spread between different countries, all felt a glimmer of hope that international pressure and opposition strength might counter Maduro’s grip on power but were ultimately disappointed.
Many Venezuelans in Argentina now support opposition leader Machado, including Di Giovanni, who said she feels inspired by Machado’s strength and continues to believe she’s the one who will lead the change in Venezuela when the time comes.
González, the Uber driver, said he hopes for decisive action from opposition leaders.
“More than just peaceful protests while [the government] is shooting at us,” he said. “I wanted leaders willing to take risks.”
Still, he recognizes that change may take time.
Meanwhile, he and many others find solace in their community.
“We’ve built a kind of support network that keeps us going when emotions run high,” he said. However, his thoughts often drift back to Venezuela.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my country — the weather, my neighbors, the beaches, the history, the architecture and the mountains,” he said.
For now, he is grateful to Argentina.
“We’re beyond thankful for what this country has done for us,” he said.