DORAL, Fla.—Zarai Maza survived a torched vehicle and a horrific car crash while peacefully protesting against the Venezuelan regime, an unacceptable act in her home country, where speaking out could cost you or your family’s lives.
“They made three assassination attempts against my life, and after the last one, I was in the hospital,” Maza said.
She described the encounter as a normal taxi ride, then waking up in a hospital with no memory of what happened and no feeling in her body.
She moved to Florida in 2017, and after two years of physical therapy, Maza regained her ability to walk upright again.
Like many Venezuelans, Maza cheered the American military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro, the country’s leader, and his wife on Jan. 3 and brought them to New York to face federal charges.
The pair has pleaded not guilty.
The Epoch Times spoke to dozens of expatriates, who shared grisly stories of survival, persecution, murder, and intimidation. Their experiences show how socialism ripped their families apart and brought their country to ruin.
A Survivor Story
Maza is the founder and executive director of the Guardians of Human Rights Foundation. She survived three attempts on her life that she accuses the Maduro regime of orchestrating.
Maza described the first during a peaceful protest, when the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela came after her and others, chasing her mother and her to an SUV when their vehicle was torched. They both escaped.
“I think that no American can imagine the fear that you can feel for just … standing in a place,” Maza said.
Maza stopped short of describing the second attempt, recalling too much pain at the memories.
In the third, Maza learned another vehicle caused her taxi to crash, with her spine taking the brunt of the damage.
“I couldn’t move or feel my body,” Maza said. “I didn’t realize how bad and far these people can go.”
Her symptoms—physical and mental—linger.
“There’s still things that I live with … I don’t have enough strength in my hands,” Maza said.
“Even now, when I’m in any place, and here comes a motorcycle, and I listen to the sound,” she trailed off.
It took years to be able to sleep comfortably at night after moving to the United States, she said.
Pressure and Murders
Carlos Higuerey came to the United States in 2018, after working as an accountant at Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company.
A string of family members’ deaths, which he blames on the regime, also contributed to his fleeing.
Higuerey’s father passed away in 2010.
“My father had to take pills, but [at] this time in Venezuela, you cannot find the pills because the government expropriates all pharmacies,” he said.
Within 10 days of his father’s death, his aunt and uncle were murdered inside their home, which Higuerey believes was done by the regime over political differences.
Five months after his father, uncle, and aunt died, Higuerey said his brother was killed over politics.
In 2018, he took a trip to the United States but didn’t know it would become a years-long stay.
“I see a message from my neighbors,” Higuerey said. “My sister was kidnapped.”
He said the neighbors witnessed it, but they were really after him for secrets he knew about his employer. Higuerey’s sister was freed the next day.
“I took the decision that I don’t want to come back to Venezuela,” Higuerey said. “I’m broke inside.”
It’s a decision countless other Venezuelans have made.
Ceaseless Harassment
A man and his family, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation against relatives in Venezuela, described how the regime crippled his business.
Translating for him, his daughter explained how he began work supplying canned food to Venezuelans.
“[The regime] kept taking a sum each time. It was bigger and bigger until it was every supply that they had,” the daughter said.
Eventually, money was taken as well. If quotas weren’t met, punishments would follow, the father said.
“Socialism is like a cancer,” the daughter translated.
The family fled to survive, but the father said he hopes to return one day so he can die in his country.
Political Power, Persecution, and Fear
Daniel Tirado began working in politics as a teenager, learning quickly how dangerous it was.
“One of my friends, he was a councilman in the city where I used to live, he got beat like, I don’t know, maybe three times. They almost killed him,” Tirado said.
Tirado said he was also attacked by “colectivos,” or pro-government groups.
His sister and father became victims of political harassment and threats. They both ultimately fled, Tirado said.
“My separation from my family has been prolonged and painful,” Tirado said.
Despite surviving and enduring mental and physical pain, these Venezuelans didn’t appear to let it weigh them down.
Maza is leading initiatives to advance democracy and education across continents.
Higuerey still works in accounting.
The anonymous source helps run an air conditioning business.
Tirado balances family and work between South Florida and Washington.
—Troy Myers
BOOKMARKS
Donald Trump says he may be impeached if Republicans don’t perform well in the midterms. “They’ll find a reason,” the president told GOP lawmakers during a House caucus.
The Hilton hospitality chain has removed a Minnesota hotel from its system after a video surfaced showing an employee refusing to book rooms for agents from ICE or DHS. The same hotel had canceled reservations made by the government last week in an email that said it wouldn’t allow “immigration agents to stay on their property.”
California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R) passed away on Tuesday at age 65. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) described his colleague from across the aisle as “deeply committed to his community and constituents, working to make life better for those he represented.”
The citizenship test is getting an overhaul, but the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services hasn’t said what changes are coming. “Our new version of the test will ensure all new citizens understand the privilege of citizenship and what it means to be an American,” the agency said in a post on X.
Texas is planning its own childcare fraud investigation, following the recent problems in Minnesota. “Schemes like the ones uncovered in Minnesota harm taxpayers as well as other families and children waiting to participate in the Child Care Services Program,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.
—Stacy Robinson
