Lauren Villagran

They themselves fled Caracas in 2015, early in the Maduro regime.

She was a vocal critic of that government, and they sought and won asylum in the United States.

She described it as a dream that one day she would be able to return to Venezuela, if only to visit, but doesn't believe the conditions are right for that now for her or any Venezuelans.

Look, the Venezuelans I've spoken to of all political stripes certainly want to see their country return to democracy.

There are some who believe that leaving the regime in place was the right step for the Trump administration to maintain some semblance of stability, both economic and political, in the country at this delicate moment.

There are others that are aghast that

The opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, would be sidelined as she was in the wake of this operation.

But again, it's still early days.

Elections have not been called.

If they were to be called, it's unclear whether they would be fair.

We know this regime, outside observers have said, lost the last election in Venezuela, but essentially retained power under fraud.

So it's a developing situation, one that Venezuelans in the United States, regardless of their political stance, are happy to see Maduro ousted.

But that doesn't mean that conditions on the ground in Venezuela are ready or ripe for democracy.

Oh, absolutely.

In South Florida, particularly in this very Republican community of Doral, Florida, the president of the local club, Gustavo Garagorri, told me that people are elated.

They are grateful to President Trump as well as Secretary Marco Rubio for the successful operation in Venezuela to remove Maduro.

But even he said that he is concerned about the vulnerable position that many members of his community are going to be left in with the administration revoking many of the pathways that had allowed them to immigrate under the Biden administration.

He told me that there are families who are afraid to take their kids for an ice cream cone on the weekends.

They're afraid to go out for pizza.

So it's a bittersweet moment in which families