Venezuelan in New Zealand hopes Maduro capture will help free missing cousin

A Venezuelan living in New Zealand is hopeful the capture of the country’s president will lead to his cousin being freed from “political imprisonment”.

United States forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife after launching a “large-scale strike” on the South American country on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said.

Venezuelan Dietrich Truchsess, who moved to New Zealand in 2012, said hearing the news last night made him hopeful that his second cousin and politician, Juan Pablo Guanipa, will be found.

The 36-year-old and his family have not heard from Guanipa, a top figure in Venezuela’s opposition, since his arrest in May last year.

He was accused of organising a “terrorist” network planning to sabotage local elections by the country’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, according to the Miami Herald.

In a prewritten message released after his arrest, Guanipa denounced Maduro and said he was kidnapped by the forces of his regime, Al Jazeera reported.

Truchsess said that with Maduro in US custody, he may find out about Guanipa’s condition and whereabouts.

“We just want to know if he’s safe or not.”

Guanipa has not had access to legal counsel or a fair trial since his arrest, Truchsess told the Herald.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro onboard the USS Iwo Jima after the US military captured him, according to US President Donald Trump. Photo / Truth Social

The Government run by the “dictator” Maduro, and Hugo Chávez before him, was a regime which “crippled” the country, Truchsess said.

He was out getting ice cream with his wife when he heard the news of the initial strikes on Caracas, Venezuela’s capital and the president’s capture.

The initial reaction Truchsess had was “shock and relief that we could finally see light at the end of the tunnel”.

He said others in the New Zealand Venezuelan community are “relieved” that Maduro has been taken but are aware that “it is not over”.

Other officials need to be booted out of the Government, and Venezuelans’ will keep a close eye on how the transition to a democratic system plays out, he said.

Trump told media this morning the US would “run” Venezuela during an undetermined transitional period.

Truchsess said the risk of the US overstepping the mark during that time is worth having Maduro and his Government gone.

Since moving out of the country, Truchsess has not been back to visit for fear of not being able to leave because of his family’s ties with the opposition.

Yesterday’s events have him hopeful it will be safe for him, his wife and his two young children to travel to Venezuela in the future, he said.

“I haven’t seen my friends, my uncles, since 2012, there are people who have died and I haven’t been able to say my proper goodbyes.”

Truchsess’ parents and sister followed him to New Zealand after he immigrated.

He said a large chunk of his family still lives in Venezuela, while the rest are scattered across the globe in countries such as Argentina, England and the US.