Venezuelan migrants in this country say they want to return to their homeland. However, its political and economic state is causing them to hesitate.

Amid violent clashes over the controversial presidential elections on July 28, many migrants shared mixed views on the outcome.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) declared incumbent president Nicolas Maduro the winner.

However, the US rejected Maduro’s win, saying his opponent, Edmundo Gonzalez, won the most votes. A press statement from the US Department of State also congratulated Gonzalez “on a successful campaign” and deemed CNE deeply flawed.

An opposition supporter in TT supported the US view and added that Maduro won with the support of Venezuela’s allies — China, Russia and Cuba.

“The opposition won in all of the states. Many people supported Edmundo. He is the winner. I want to return home, but I do not want Maduro to be in power,” she told Newsday in Spanish on August 5.

“I have a house, but I am renting here. It is hard to get jobs even as a professional. But in Venezuela right now, some people work for about $US 10 monthly.”

The woman, who lives in southwest Trinidad, did not vote at the Venezuelan embassy in Port of Spain because she is in the country illegally.

She vowed that if she had been home, she would have voted against Maduro.

Another person said many Venezuelans wept on hearing the CNE’s announcement.

“People were crying in Penal. We cannot believe that Maduro would be in power for another six years,” the woman said.

“A favourite to oust Maduro was María Corina Machado but she was not allowed to register as a candidate. So, Edmundo took her place. We want to go home. There is no place like home. It would take years for Venezuela to return to what it used to be. Had Maduro accepted his loss, we would have left here.”

On whether migrants thought there would be an influx of Venezuealans into TT, she added: “People would stay in Venezuela, for now. Maria asks supporters to give her some time because she is working on something. She said she knows the Maduro regime would have rigged the results.

“If nothing improves the political and economic crisis after a while, people will migrate, and it will be in masses.”

Amidst tensions and fraud claims, Maduro supporters fondly called “Chavistas” in honour of the late president Hugo Chavez, said the people had spoken.

A Chavista said the US imposed hundreds of economic sanctions on Venezuela to cause suffering and chaos and to undermine the country’s sovereignty.

He added that while there were protests against Maduro, thousands of people were in the streets defending Bolivarian sovereignty.

“Even before the results, the opposition made it clear it would only support the results once it won. Where is the evidence to show there was fraud? They have none. They cannot prove it,” he said.

“What we have now is international pressure. A few days ago, the people of Parroquia Sucre (in Caracas) had a massive march to support Maduro. No one is going to migrate in masses. T