SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The Trump administration's actions and threats towards Venezuela are being followed especially closely in south Florida. The administration has carried out more than two dozen strikes on alleged drug boats, killing more than a hundred people. This week, President Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers. NPR's Greg Allen reports that among Venezuelan expatriates, there is wide support for action they hope will lead to regime change.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: Florida is home to the nation's largest population of Venezuelans. Some are recent arrivals, but many have been here for decades. Rafael Pineyro's family came to south Florida in 1999, shortly after Hugo Chavez took power.
RAFAEL PINEYRO: We always thought - especially my grandparents - that it was going to become another Cuba, so we left the country, and it has been 26 years ago.
ALLEN: Pineyro is a city councilman in Doral, a suburb of Miami where some 40% of the residents have their roots in Venezuela. In his community, he says there's cautious optimism that Trump's actions may finally force Chavez's successor, President Nicolas Maduro, from power.
PINEYRO: There is a sense of hope that finally something will happen and that that will be a change of government and hopefully putting an end to a regime that has created an exile of over 8 million Venezuelans worldwide.
ALLEN: Like Pineyro, Ernesto Ackerman also voted for President Trump and was disappointed when in his first term, his administration didn't follow through on promises to oust Maduro from power. Ackerman, a retired businessman who heads the group, Independent Venezuelan-American Citizens, thinks this time Trump is serious.
ERNESTO ACKERMAN: What we see is the end of the story. We are very hopeful that President Trump will finish with this very soon.
ALLEN: While the prospect of regime change is popular among Venezuelans, at the same time, President Trump's tough stance on immigration has brought fear and pain. Despite the political turmoil, announcement of a no-fly zone and threat of possible military action, the Trump administration canceled temporary protected status for about 600,000 Venezuelans. And more recently, it canceled all immigration applications, affecting those seeking asylum claims or applying for green cards. Councilman Pineyro says he supports Trump 100% but is concerned for his community.
PINEYRO: People sometimes are afraid to go out now because you never know if you're going to be stopped and you're going to be asked for your documents, especially - even if you're legal in the country but you have a pending status, people feel afraid.
ALLEN: Eduardo Gamarra says Trump's immigration policies have led to a split in the community that in last year's election were among his strongest backers. Gamarra, a professor at Florida International University who does regular polling of Venezuelans, found wide disapproval of Trump's actions on immigration, including the order ending TPS. A large number - a quarter of those polled - say they regretted voting for Trump, with about half saying they still support the president.
EDUARDO GAMARRA: You know where they all come together. They want regime change.
ALLEN: For Venezuelans and other immigrant groups, Gamarra says there's widespread fear now.
GAMARRA: They can't go anywhere because ICE is there. They live in that world, and at the same time, they're saying, our only way out appears to be the bombing of Venezuela.
ALLEN: Ernesto Ackerman says he knows many Venezuelans, including some close friends, who are affected by the immigration crackdown. But he says that doesn't change his support for President Trump.
ACKERMAN: Hopefully, this will end very soon, the regime, and I'll bet you that most of those people will go back.
ALLEN: In an interview this week, Trump said he wouldn't rule out going to war in Venezuela. If he succeeds with regime change, Ackerman believes it will help Venezuelans, stabilize the region and be good for American business.
Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.
(SOUNDBITE OF PAVEL DOVGAL'S "NIBIRU") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
