Venezuelans in Antigua Condemn Article Portraying Maduro Positively
Venezuelans living in Antigua and Barbuda have issued a sharp rebuke of a recent article they say misrepresented President Nicolás Maduro and ignored the reality facing millions of their compatriots.
In a statement shared publicly, the group said the portrayal of Maduro as a “good man,” framed in anti-imperialist rhetoric and presented as a victim, does not reflect the lived experience of Venezuelans at home or abroad.
“If you are going to publish something, at the very least it should be the truth,” the statement said. The writers stressed that the depiction “does not represent us as Venezuelans.”
They pointed to mass protests that erupted just months ago, when millions took to the streets across Venezuela calling for international intervention to help end what they describe as dictatorship and repression. The group said similar expressions of desperation were visible in Antigua, where Venezuelans gathered in churches to pray and “begging for someone to remove that dictator.”
The statement questioned how such coverage could appear despite what it described as extensive, well-documented evidence of abuses under the Maduro government, including the imprisonment of people for speaking out, the operation of detention and torture centers such as El Helicoide, and the collapse of basic services.
“Did you really not know that there are hundreds of people imprisoned simply for speaking out against Maduro?” the statement asked, adding that millions face hunger and that more than nine million Venezuelans have fled the country.
Writing from exile, the group said the article was “deeply painful,” accusing it of “whitewashing” a regime they hold responsible for persecution, forced exile and the erosion of democratic institutions.
“That is not journalism,” the statement concluded. “That is disinformation.”
