President Donald Trump announced early Saturday that U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after a military operation in the country’s capital, Caracas. By midday, Trump stated from Mar-a-Lago that the U.S. would run the country until a “safe, proper and judicious transition.” While the international community watched the escalating tension, the Venezuelan diaspora’s most prominent artists — many of them part of a vocal vanguard against the Maduro regime — reacted with marked caution.
This music scene has become a global force. Since Danny Ocean’s 2016 breakout viral hit “Me Rehúso” — an anthem for a generation lost to migration — the momentum has been unstoppable. The Venezuelan wave hit a high-water mark in 2025 with alternative band Rawayana’s debut at Coachella and their historic Grammy win with their fifth studio album, ¿Quién Trae las Cornetas? Alongside Latin Grammy winners singer-songwriter Elena Rose and rapper Akapellah, these artists have leveraged their international platforms to denounce and campaign for democratic change. Yet, as news of the U.S. incursion broke, their reaction on social media platforms was guarded.
Danny Ocean, who sang at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo just last month and has sworn not to perform in Venezuela until its return to democracy, shared a post from opposition leader María Corina Machado. In it, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate praised the U.S. actions and demanded “immediate recognition of Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate President of Venezuela.” González Urrutia, currently in exile in Spain, served as the opposition’s candidate in the 2024 elections after Machado was barred from running.
Elena Rose, who collaborated with Ocean and urban artist Jerry Di on the nostalgic “Caracas en el 2000,” shared calls for prayer. “This is a spiritual war,” she wrote on her Instagram account. “Stand in light.”
Similarly, rising singer-songwriter Joaquina posted the evocative phrase “Abajo cadenas“ (Down with the chains) — a powerful reference to a verse of Venezuela’s national anthem.
Rawayana remained quiet throughout the day, though their latest album release, launched on New Year’s Day, felt like a sudden prophecy. “Si Te Pica Es Porque Eres Tú” (If it itches, it’s because it’s you), the first track of ¿Dónde Es El After?, features a vibrant, drum-led track where lead singer Beto Montenegro pointedly sings: “Feliz año te desea Rawa y que por fin los hijo de putas ya se vayan” (Rawa wishes you a Happy New Year, and may the sons of bitches finally leave).
The track was shared widely online by some Venezuelans alongside early news of Maduro’s capture. On Sunday, the band posted “Tonada por ella,” a minimalist folk ballad dedicated to the ache of exile, co-written by Montenegro and Servando Primera, the Miami-based powerhouse songwriter behind hits for Nathy Peluso, Christina Aguilera, and Kali Uchis. As part of the release, they provided a phone number that callers could dial to hear archival audio of Venezuelan author Arturo Uslar Pietri discussing the failure of Venezuela as a petro-state.
Following the 2024 release of Rawayana’s viral hit “Veneka,” featuring Venezuelan rapper Akapellah, the group was forced to cancel their domestic tour because the track drew a direct public rebuke from Maduro. The song, which reclaims a derogatory term for Venezuelan female migrants, was interpreted as defiant and irritated the Venezuelan president, then facing widespread reports of electoral fraud. Its critical success was later cemented with a Latin Grammy win in 2025.
Akapellah had one of the most candid reactions: “A time of transition is coming,” he wrote in a post shared on Instagram late Saturday. “We don’t know how hard it will be, but we all knew we needed it.”
