How the Palestinian diaspora in Venezuela reacted to Maduro’s abduction
The US military abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro early this month has sent shockwaves through diaspora communities worldwide, with Palestinian-Venezuelans in Venezuela framing the incident not only as a geopolitical earthquake but as a potential inflection point for their political identity and transnational solidarity.
For Palestinians in Venezuela, a community of roughly 15,000 people concentrated mainly in Valencia and Caracas and historically aligned with the Bolivarian government’s anti-imperialist stance, the reaction has been shaped over the future of political support for Palestine amid growing US pressure, as a diaspora that has successfully integrated into Venezuelan society while preserving its cultural identity and collective political orientation.
“All Palestinians in Venezuela stand with President Maduro, particularly Palestinian refugees originating from villages under occupation,” Palestinian-Venezuelan author and political analyst, Jehad Yousef, told MEMO.
Yousef described the US action as “a dangerous precedent: invading a country, killing dozens of people, and abducting the president and his wife from a military barracks.” He framed this as “a breach of international law and UN resolutions as well as a blatant attack on a sovereign state and its people,” with implications well beyond Venezuela’s borders.
Yousef, who was born in 1957 in the village of Iskaka in the northern occupied West Bank, emphasised that their support is rooted in Maduro’s long-standing alignment with the Palestinian cause. He underscored that his support went beyond symbolism, noting that “Maduro was a staunch defender of Palestine and repeatedly echoed Chávez’s statement that ‘Palestine is Venezuela, and Venezuela is Palestine.’”
According to Yousef, this political stance translated over decades into concrete diplomatic backing and sustained grassroots solidarity for Palestinian rights under both Chávez and Maduro. Under both Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) and Maduro, Venezuela has expressed strong solidarity with the Palestinian cause. It was the first country in Latin America to recognise the State of Palestine on the 1967 nominal borders. In 2009, Venezuela and the Palestinian Authority (PA) established diplomatic relations and announced the opening of a Palestinian Embassy in Caracas.
That history now informs community reactions. Yousef notes that activists and politically engaged Palestinians have expressed conditional support for the interim administration, “provided it continues on the same path.” The caveat reflects concern that a shift away from Caracas’s pro-Palestinian posture could diminish Venezuela’s role in broader global solidarity networks.
A central theme in Palestinian-Venezuelan discourse is the specter of US pressure reshaping Venezuela’s foreign policy. Yousef warned that “the new leadership will maintain good relations with the Palestinians; however, the US administration may pressure the new leadership to recognize Israel, tighten measures against the Palestinians, and restrict their activities.” That concern ties into broader regional anxieties about US influence operations following the military intervention.
The Venezuelan crisis has also reignited internal debates within diaspora political networks. Activists fear that a shift in Caracas’s foreign policy could undercut long-standing solidarity structures that have offered political and material support for Palestinian causes. Yousef warned that “it would be a major loss for Palestine and for Palestinian support in Venezuela, especially if the new administration does not follow the same approach and instead complies with US dictates.”
His critique extended to opposition figures such as María Corina Machado, whose right-wing coalition has political ties abroad. “If opposition forces take the political lead in Venezuela,” Yousef said, “the opposition led by María Corina Machado … has relations and agreements with Netanyahu, despite knowing that Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court as a war criminal for the killing of Palestinians.”
Within the Palestinian-Venezuelan community, the prevailing view is largely unified in support of President Maduro, driven by a shared belief that his government consistently upheld Palestine and defended national sovereignty. This collective stance is also shaped by a common rejection of what is widely seen as US attempts to reassert dominance in Latin America.
While the future direction of Venezuela’s foreign policy remains uncertain, for Palestinians in Venezuela the moment has reinforced a clear conviction: defending Maduro is inseparable from defending political independence, solidarity with Palestine, and Resisting American hegemony.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.