What's next for Venezuela? A native now in Wisconsin and local Latin America experts weigh in

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Every last bit of prep work at Arepanita's Cafe is the responsibility of Francisco Mohamed. As he peeled an avocado Tuesday morning, Mohamed explained he's the restaurant's owner and its only employee.

"You know, when you're the captain of the boat, you need to move forward," Mohamed said. "No matter what."

Mohamed's native county of Venezuela is now moving forward under the control of the Trump administration. U.S. special forces forcefully removed the country's leader, Nicolas Maduro, from power in an overnight raid early Saturday morning.

Mohamed said he supported U.S. intervention after Maduro remained in power despite widespread evidence he lost in last year's election. 

"In the beginning, I was very joyful, very, very happy," he said. "Because we've been living in dictatorship for more than 25 years."

Mohamed came to the U.S. 11 years ago on an investor visa with plans to open a restaurant. He chose Waukesha based on the advice of a friend with connections to the area, calling the community "virgin soil" for Venezuelan cuisine. 

While he's optimistic about Venezuela's future, Mohamed said he cannot discuss current events with relatives still in the country. He explained the military is closely monitoring people, and that includes checkpoints where residents are subject to having their phones searched for signs of dissent.

"I cannot send them my interviews or whatever, or my opinion regarding this issue," he said. "Because they have to proceed to erase all the conversations instantly."

Maria Bozmoski, director of the Latin America Center for the Atlantic Council, an international think tank, said there is a lot of uncertainty about what awaits Venezuelans, who've long dealt with poverty, as well as repressive regimes under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.

"This is a country that's dealing with 500% inflation," Bozmoski said. "That has had a historic lack of access to food and medicine."

Bozmoski, who lives in Whitefish Bay, said one of the biggest questions was whether acting leader, Delcy Rodriguez, would break with other key players in the Maduro regime and essentially take U.S. orders. 

During a tenuous time, she said it's possible a power struggle will emerge among other parts of the Maduro government and armed groups across the South American nation.

"Even within the regime and the people at the top," Bozmoski said. "There are very strong and different factions."

Mohamed was far from the only Venezuelan ex-pat celebrating Maduro's removal. 

Patrick Iber, an associate professor of Latin American History at UW-Madison, is currently in Chile. Iber said Venezuelans living there cheered in the streets when news of Maduro's arrest spread.

"They were honking horns up and down the main avenue, gathering in cafes to celebrate," Iber said. "Maduro is a hated figure who disrupted their lives in significant ways."

Iber said he found the Trump administration's tone especially notable. In a post on social media, the U.S. State Department wrote, "This is OUR hemisphere."

Iber said recent administrations that pursued regime change in other countries emphasized how the upheaval would bring citizens closer to democracy. In this case, the U.S. has been open about how deposing Maduro advanced its own interests. 

"The absence of a kind of pro-democracy rhetoric, I find quite striking from this administration," Iber said. "The talking about U.S. dominance, rather than about supporting democracy, is very unusual."

Both Iber and Bozmoski said U.S. intervention, as well as its reasoning, risk encouraging adversarial powers, Russia and China, to act even more aggressively toward Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively, arguing they're also entitled to flex muscle within their spheres of influence.

Bozmoski added the ripple effects in Venezuela could also be felt in the U.S. if a power struggle creates more refugees, since many would almost certainly try to reach the U.S.

"These are things that will affect the United States at the end of the day," she said. "So, I think what the administration does in the next months will be very important to make sure this doesn't, in a way, backfire."

As for Mohamed, he said it doesn't bother him if the U.S. openly states one of its main reasons for overthrowing Venezuela's government is oil.

"It doesn't matter because [under Maduro] the oil is taken for free to Cuba, China, Russia, Iran, all those countries," he said. "We know Venezuela is floating in oil, and everybody wants the oil. Everybody wants to make business with Venezuela, that's normal."

As Venezuela suddenly begins its next chapter, Mohamed said he will watch closely from his kitchen.

"We are waiting to see what will happen in the future," he said. "For us, this is just the beginning."