Caracas, Venezuela — There is happiness, and then there is Venezuelan happiness. It sounds sweet. out loud deep
It may be because it doesn’t come often. Or it was suppressed by the security forces and self-censored to escape jail. Or it seems unachievable collectively and individually.
But the nation experienced it on Wednesday. Its people cried, shouted, danced, hugged and drank after Venezuela’s 3-2 victory over the United States in the World Baseball Classic final the previous night.
“We didn’t express this joy that we wanted to shout,” said hairdresser Deyanira Machado outside a beauty salon in the capital, Caracas.
Much unlike here, the score was final on televisions across the country. This will not change in the coming minutes or days. It was not subject to interpretation. And young and old, politically active or not, rich and poor, breathed their last after years of holding their breath.
“We’ve been hoarding that joy to put it out right one day, like last night, and better than last night,” Machado said.
The victory came after two dizzying months for the Venezuelans.
They began the year by seeing their dictator of nearly 13 years, Nicolas Maduro, spirited away overnight by the US military and emerging in handcuffs in New York City. Then he saw the White House working with ruling-party loyalists, not the political opposition, to try to turn the country around.
While thousands of Venezuelans abroad celebrated Maduro’s fall, no one here dared to publicly express even a hint of approval. Brutal government repression, especially after the 2024 presidential election, has taught them to restrain themselves from expressing facts or sentiments that may be considered controversial.
Happiness, or dissent, was policed. After election officials declared Maduro the winner without presenting evidence to support their claim, the government became the target of people who had enough credible evidence to show that the opposition candidate had won a landslide victory. Social media posts and WhatsApp statuses were enough to land anyone in jail.
Fear, anger and frustration flared up. Neighborhood group chats are also muted because disagreements with neighbors are too dangerous.
Venezuelans adapted again, always expecting the other shoe to drop. Adults focused only on the “solvent”, calculating each day, doing one, two or three jobs just to get food. Triple-digit inflation has made anything but necessities a luxury.
Acting President Delsey Rodriguez declared a national “Day of Happiness” after the game, a non-working holiday for anyone except essential workers. Not that anyone needs permission to skip work or school. This is the moment when the game ends and the commotion begins.
People banged pots and pans across Caracas as a racket of honking horns from cars and motorcycles occupied some streets. Tearful Venezuelans sang the national anthem in public plazas. The entire city seemed to wake up after midnight. Grocery carts filled with beer at 24-hour stores.
Unfiltered joy filled the streets and social media until Wednesday. The red, yellow and blue flag hung from windows, waved and scarfed by motorcycles.
“This championship is not just about a baseball game, people might think,” said hospital employee Lanzonier Lozada, who waved a Venezuelan flag on his way to work Wednesday and waved strangers with equal joy.
“This game is historic. Words fail me,” he said. “We’re world champions! Who would have guessed that?”
Who would have? Countless kids who play in local leagues and dream of MLB careers. But their parents may find it hard to believe the possibility. Adults, after all, are hardened by a crisis that has pushed more than 7.7 million Venezuelans to flee their country and seen world leaders use their nation’s name as a synonym for trouble.
So when the players lifted the trophy, they lifted the spirit of Venezuelans around the planet.
“This victory is not celebrated only in Venezuela. In every corner of the world, there is Venezuela,” said Yenni Reyes, a mother of two young baseball fans.
“I am convinced that this is the year of Venezuela,” he said. “This is the beginning of many good things to come for Venezuela.”
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Regina García Cano has covered Venezuela for The Associated Press from Caracas for four years.
(tags to translate) Sports
