Poll: Latin America celebrates Nicolás Maduro's capture

Nine Latin American countries support the capture of Nicolás Maduro. This was the finding of a survey conducted by Altica Research between January 3 and 4 in several countries in the region. Costa Rica, Chile and Colombia were the ones that most celebrated the arrest of the now former Venezuelan dictator.

In the early hours of Saturday, January 3, the Trump administration carried out "Operation Absolute Resolve," which ended with the arrest of Maduro in Caracas and his subsequent arrival in New York, where he will be tried along with his wife, Cilia Flores.

The news caused several celebrations of Venezuelan citizens in the main cities of the continent, since it is estimated that almost eight million have emigrated in the last ten years, due to Maduro's regime.

In this context, Altica Research decided to measure the popularity of Maduro's capture in nine countries in the region: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay. The question was the same for all: "Are you in favor or against the detention of Nicolás Maduro carried out by the United States?"

The results showed that in all countries, in favor was higher than against, with Costa Rica (87%), Chile (78%) and Colombia (77%) leading the ranking. Further down the ranking were Panama (76%), Peru (74%) and Argentina (61%).

The countries with the highest rejection index were Mexico (42%), Ecuador (36%) and Uruguay (33%).

Is Maduro the leader of a drug trafficking cartel?

Another question asked by Altica Research was whether the citizens of these countries believe that Maduro is indeed the leader of a drug trafficking cartel, in this case, the Cartel de los Soles.

As in the first question, all countries agreed that the allegations are true. Again, although in a different order, Chile, Costa Rica and Colombia were the first to be positioned. Seventy-five percent of Chileans, 73% of Costa Ricans and 70% of Colombians believe that Maduro is indeed a drug trafficking leader.

On the other side, 41% of Ecuadorians, 39% of Mexicans and 28% of Argentines judge the accusations as false.

Who should take over the government in Venezuela?

The poll also asked who should take over authority in Venezuela. Here, Latin America preferred an internal solution to a foreign one, since in all countries the option of "the Venezuelan opposition" won. The other options were chavismo or "an authority of the United States."

The country where chavismo was strongest was Ecuador, with 26%, followed by Argentina (18%) and Mexico (17%). In turn, the U.S. authority option was strong in Peru (27%), Costa Rica (22%) and Colombia (21%).