Stockpiling, not celebrating Caracas fears crackdowns by the regime

There was a whirlwind of emotions on the streets of Caracas last Sunday, 24 hours after the first large-scale US attack on South American soil and the extraordinary snaring of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

- By Guardian reporters

“Uncertainty,” said Griselda Guzmán, a 68-year-old pensioner, fighting back tears as she lined up outside a grocery store with her husband to stock up on supplies in case the coming days brought yet more drama.

“Anger,” said Sauriany, a 23-year-old administrative worker as she queued outside a supermarket on the other side of town with her 24-year-old partner, Leandro.

Leandro voiced shock. “Who could have imagined that this would happen? That right at the start of the year they’d bomb our country while everyone was asleep?” he asked.

“If I thought it would improve the country I’d welcome it,” Leandro added. “If they wanted peace, this isn’t the way to achieve it.”

Similarly confused sentiments could be heard all over Caracas as its three million citizens came to terms with the traumatic nocturnal blitz on their city - a move the governments of Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay warned set “an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security”.

“It’s all so distressing,” said Gabriel Vásquez, a 29-year-old videomaker, recalling the sound of a “gigantic” explosion at about 2am last Saturday and how his community in central Caracas was plunged into darkness as aircraft circled overhead.

"I thought that at any time my house could get bombed too," said Vásquez.

There was scant sign of citizens celebrating Maduro's downfall, something locals attributed to fear that his regime - which remains in power despite his arrest - might crack down and a sense that little had actually changed.