jan11 2013151 doral florida arqumedes rivero just wants to know if hugo chvez is dead or alive we deserve to know the truth about whats happening in our country says rivero a venezuelan audiobook publisher who settled in miami 10 years ago nobody knows if this situation will last one month one year or the full six years term said rivero hes one of a handful of venezuelan dissidents who congregated at the local restaurant el arepazo 2 on thursday january 10th the day president hugo chvez vez was to be sworn in an estimated 189219 venezuelans live in the united states with 91091 living in florida according to census figures many of them have settled in the miami suburbs of doral or weston which have come to be known as doralzuela or westonzuela because of the largeconcentration of venezuelans at the heart of the venezuelan community here is el arepazo 2 a restaurant that has become the political meeting place for expats especially since the venezuelan consulate in miami was closed a year ago lorenzo di stefano el arepazo 2s owner says he came to florida for his kids tennis training way before chvez but with the changing political situation in venezuela he decided to stay and opened his business at el arepazo 2 four flatscreen tvs flanked the seating area two were tuned to globovision venezuelans only independent television station and other spanishlanguage news networks broadcasting live coverage of the situation in venezuela its no secret that in venezuela theres no rule of law said xiomara gandaeta a realtor who settled in venezuela before chvez rose to power after this we can really see that this as a dictatorship they dont respect the law dont respect the rights of venezuelans regardless of whether you are a chavista or not said gandaeta a large number of venezuelans cited the countrys high crime and kidnapping rates as the reasons why they left their country after chvez came into power its not even if youre in favor or not of the government its the amount of violence going on said 24yearold college student mario di giovanny who left two years ago and crime affects everybody no matter which party you support i never imagined that our business would turn into the venezuelan versailles said di stefano referring to the restaurant in miamis little havana neighborhood thats the meeting place for exiled cubans di stefano like many other venezuelans doesnt think about going back even if chavez were to leave the presidency i miss my country but with our deep roots in the united states i dont think theres any turning back