Journalist Mariana Zúñiga woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of explosions and military planes in Caracas, Venezuela. Her WhatsApp chats flashed the news: The ruling dictator, Nicholás Maduro, had just been captured by the US military. She was surprised and felt uneasy about what was to come.

In the days that followed, Zúñiga would go into the field, despite the dangers journalists face, to report on what the country feels like at this tumultuous moment. 

This week on Reveal, we speak with Venezuelans about witnessing this moment of history from up close and afar. For Freddy Guevara, an exiled Venezuelan opposition leader living in the US, there is little confidence in the country’s new leadership. 

“They are not moderate at all,” Guevara says. “They are super radical, and they believe they are smarter than everyone.” 

And historian Alejandro Velasco explains the role Venezuela’s most valuable resource—oil—has played in the country’s history and relations with the US.

• Support Reveal’s journalism at Revealnews.org/donatenow
• Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get the scoop on new episodes at Revealnews.org/weekly
• Connect with us onBluesky, Facebook and Instagram

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices