North Star with Ellin Bessner Venezuelan Jews in Canada feeling joy, uncertainty after Maduro capture
It’s been just over a week since U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the military capture and trial of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The stunning late-night operation on Jan. 3 was welcome news to millions of Venezuelans who have fled their home country over the last two decades, leaving it to descend into corruption and impoverishment, despite controlling the biggest oil reserves on the planet.
Among the estimated eight million Venezeulans who left, tens of thousands are Jewish. They faced additional pressure to escape: the regime was strongly anti-Israel, supporting Iran and Hezbollah, which led to the harassment of the local Jewish community. It’s a stance first adopted by Maduro’s predecessor, the late former president Hugo Chavez, in 2006.
While Maduro now faces drug and racketeering charges in New York City, the uncertainty about what happens next has kept Venezuelans confined to their homes, with schools temporarily closed and paramilitary forces patrolling the streets. Some political prisoners are being released, in a gesture of goodwill by Maduro’s replacement, while President Trump is vowing to bring billions in investment to revamp Venezuela’s oil production. While some Venezuelans say they have great hope now that Maduro is gone, others think restoring democracy is still a long way off.
On today’s episode of The CJN’s flagship _North Sta_r podcast, we hear reaction and analysis from three Venezuelan Jews who have made their homes in Canada. Jonathan Rosemberg Kort and Rebecca Sarfatti join from Toronto, while Daniel Topel joins from Ladner, B.C., south of Vancouver.
Related links
- Read what Irwin Cotler and two other experts concluded in 2018 that Venezuela was committing crimes against humanity, in
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- Why Maduro’s predecessor, president Hugo Chavez, embraced Jew-hatred and hatred for Israel, in
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- Montreal Rabbi Adam Scheier feared for the safety of Caracas’ Jews after a visit to the country in 2009, in
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- Learn more about Jonathan Rosenberg Kort’s new book on corporate change, published in Nov. 2025.
Credits
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Host and writer: Ellin Bessner info@thecjn.ca
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Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
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Music:
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