JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
It's now been nearly three months since the U.S. seized President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Real change won't come quickly or easily, and yet there's an air of hope in Caracas, as NPR's Eyder Peralta reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Aracelys Hernandez's home sits at the top of a mountain overlooking all of Caracas. She says she will never forget January 3.
ARACELYS HERNANDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: They were sleeping, she says, when they began hearing the roar of warplanes and then explosions.
HERNANDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: Her daughter, Mervis, screamed, and she realized they were here.
HERNANDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "The gringos are here," she said. The electricity went off. They thought American planes would drop bombs on their neighborhood and firefights would erupt on the streets.
HERNANDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "It was horrible," she says. "We felt horrible."
HERNANDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We don't know what Trump wants to do with our country," she says. Maybe he wants it all for himself. But the prospect of change is better than nothing.
HERNANDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "May God forgive me for saying this," she says...
HERNANDEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "But thank God he took Maduro."
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMS)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in Spanish).
PERALTA: That feeling of relief, you hear across Caracas. Suddenly, after years of deepening repression, Venezuelans are talking politics with strangers. Members of the opposition are campaigning. On a recent Sunday, with the sun shining, a small group of protesters took to the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We rise with more strength," one protester said, "because we have a new promise of liberty and justice for Venezuela."
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMS)
PERALTA: It used to be that mobs on motorcycles would pull up, brandish weapons and disperse any show of dissent. But this time, police stop traffic. They escort the protesters.
JOHN MAGDALENO: (Through interpreter) Many are already celebrating a transition toward democracy.
PERALTA: That's political scientist John Magdaleno.
MAGDALENO: (Through interpreter) No, my friends. This has been abundantly studied.
PERALTA: Indeed, the political scientists agree that to declare the beginning of a democratic transition, there needs to be liberalization of everything from freedom of thought and of assembly to the respect of privacy.
MAGDALENO: (Through interpreter) Pretending that the old system does an instant triple corkscrew into a democracy is just not realistic.
PERALTA: Magdaleno says world data shows that in the past 120 years there were 383 democratic transitions. Only 145 made it.
MAGDALENO: (Through interpreter) That means 6 of every 10 democratic transitions do not end well.
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PERALTA: But if there's one thing I hear over and over across Venezuela is that hope springs eternal.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Singing in Spanish).
PERALTA: One night, I joined the families of political prisoners outside Rodeo Uno, a notorious maximum security prison.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: Every night, they pray, they light candles, and just before 9 p.m. they begin climbing a hill that winds behind the prison. Delcia Caro says dozens of family members came here just a few days after Maduro was seized by the U.S.
DELCIA CARO: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).
CARO: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: She says, one day, they walked up the hill, and from one spot they heard voices coming from the jail. They realized if they shouted loud enough, the prisoners could hear them too.
(Speaking Spanish).
And the guards don't tell you anything? I say.
CARO: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We just climb and trust in God," she says, Delcia's husband has been in jail for two years, accused of trying to overthrow the government. When they actually allow her to see him, authorities put a hood over her head. We stop at a ravine strewn with trash. Through the trees, we see the lights of the jail twinkling. And at exactly 9 p.m. the families begin their ritual.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Shouting in Spanish).
PERALTA: "All ears," they scream, and the silence that follows feels eternal. Are their family members still inside? Are they alive? There's no answer.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Shouting in Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PRISONER #1: (Shouting in Spanish).
PERALTA: From the jail comes a response - we hear you. First, they update the prisoners with news. Today, it was a meeting between Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Shouting in Spanish).
PERALTA: A closed-door meeting that lasted 90 minutes. And then the family members line up to deliver personal messages.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Shouting in Spanish).
PERALTA: "God bless you, son. We're OK."
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Shouting in Spanish).
PERALTA: "Keep fighting," one father says. Melba Vasquez lights a cigarette. Her son was thrown in prison following the 2024 elections for supporting the opposition. Vasquez is in her 70s. Her voice is not very strong, so others help her.
MELBA VASQUEZ: (Shouting in Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Shouting in Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Shouting in Spanish).
PERALTA: There's silence. Maybe he's somewhere else today and he can't hear, Vasquez muses. She paces.
VASQUEZ: (Shouting in Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PRISONER #2: (Shouting in Spanish).
PERALTA: "I hear you," he shouts. Your mom is here, they tell him. Vasquez takes a deep drag of her cigarette and smiles. The other women elbow her - tell him something.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Speaking Spanish).
VASQUEZ: (Shouting in Spanish).
PERALTA: "Son, I love you," she shouts. She has the hope that one day all political prisoners are released, and she'll be able to hug her son. But for now - for today - just hearing his voice is good enough. Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Caracas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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