"Thousands of Venezuelan citizens living in Argentina gathered on Saturday, January 3, around the Obelisk in Buenos Aires to celebrate the detention of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, following a military operation carried out by US armed forces in the Caribbean country. Footage shows a crowd of protesters, chanting slogans such as 'Venezuela is free' and 'Freedom', while waving Venezuelan, Argentine and US flags. Others mocked Maduro's capture by displaying real images and photomontages of his detention. "I woke up at four in the morning with the news [of Maduro’s capture], extremely emotional, in floods of tears. Happy and excited because, thank God, we finally have freedom after so many years," said Naerovic. "I wish for my country to be prosperous and for all my Argentine friends, who have opened their doors to me here, to be able to visit us and enjoy all our natural beauty, our resources and our people," said Alejandro, another Venezuelan living in Argentina, adding that after the attacks in Venezuela he found it hard to sleep and learnt of Maduro's capture hours later. According to local media, most of the demonstrators are Venezuelans who have been living in Argentina for years, having arrived in the country while fleeing difficult living conditions in Venezuela, food shortages and a lack of job opportunities. The United States operation in Venezuela included the bombing of several Venezuelan military bases and the capture of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were transferred to the United States, where they will be tried in the Southern District of New York on alleged drug trafficking charges, according to United States Attorney General Pamela Bondi."