In the flow of reactions following the US military aggression against Venezuela, which led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, there is also that of the golfer Jhonattan Vegas, one of the few Venezuelan athletes active at the highest international levels.
The golfer, permanently involved in the PGA Tour, entrusted his message to social media, publishing a short sentence with an emotional and direct tone on X: “Long live Venezuela”accompanied by an emphatic expression. A patriotic message, without explicit references to the United States or to the military operation, but clearly linked to the moment experienced by his country.
Many have asked him, pleonastically, whether his statement is for or against US aggression. To understand this, just scroll through the profile
Vegas’s reaction takes on a specific weight not so much for the content, but for the profile of the author. Forty-one years old, number 85 in the world ranking, in 2025 he became the first Venezuelan golfer to top the rankings of a Major, the PGA Championship, later finishing in fifth place. An athlete who represents Venezuela in a historically marginal sport in the country and who rarely intervenes on non-sporting issues.
In a context in which the majority of prominent Venezuelan athletes have chosen silence, Vegas’ message remains, at the moment, the only public reaction directly attributable to a professional athlete.
