A day at the races: How Venezuelans find joy despite familiar political turmoil

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The stands roared as Silk Eyes galloped past Mr. Thunder at the top of the stretch. Adults and children, some rushing to reach the barriers to get a better look, snapped their fingers as if willing the colt to go faster. They erupted in cheers when it crossed the finish line.

On Sunday, the crowd of mostly lower-income people at the racetrack in Venezuela’s capital enjoyed a day of races that drew jockeys from the United States and elsewhere, despite the increasingly tense political climate around them. Their country’s protracted crisis has accustomed them to unpredictability. Years of political promises or threats — even of a possible U.S. military attack on Venezuelan soil — now hardly move them.

“Given the circumstances and the situation in Venezuela, we all have that uncertainty and anguish,” fan Mari Alegría said Sunday after Silk Eyes won the seventh of 13 races. “But we move forward, and just as one works, one also has to have fun.”

The South American country is wrapping up another year marked by a complex social, political and economic crisis that began when Nicolás Maduro became president in 2013. He, again, is vowing to remain Venezuela’s president for years to come. His opponents, once more, pledge to end his rule soon. But unlike other years, U.S. military assets are deployed off the country’s Caribbean coast and U.S. President Donald Trump is consistently threatening to strike land.

The threats are part of the Trump administration’s strategy to pressure Maduro, who was charged with narcoterrorism in the U.S. in 2020, during Trump’s first term.

The White House has said the military operation, which began in the Caribbean and later expanded to the eastern Pacific Ocean, is meant to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S. The operation has killed more than 80 people, with Venezuelans among them.

Maduro, who denies the drug-related accusations, and his allies have repeatedly said that the operation’s true purpose is to force a government change in Venezuela.

Just days before the race, Trump escalated his campaign against Maduro, when U.S. commandos fast-roping from helicopters seized a tanker carrying tens of millions of dollars’ worth of illicit crude oil near the coast of Venezuela. Oil is the backbone of Venezuela’s economy.

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in an interview aired Sunday on news program “Face the Nation” expressed support for the seizure. She argued that as a “criminal structure,” Maduro’s government will suffer “when the inflows from their criminal activities are cut.” The inflows, she said, include oil, drug, gold, arm and human smuggling and trafficking.

“So that’s what we believe, it was so important to apply law enforcement (pressure), and we have been asking this for years, so it’s finally happening,” Machado said from Norway, where she appeared in public for the first time last week after hiding in an undisclosed location in Venezuela for 11 months. “That’s why I believe the regime has its days numbered.”

None of this seemed to matter at the racetrack.

“It’s true that all Venezuelans are anxious (wondering) what’s going to happen and all that,” Luigi Achique, who visits the track regularly, said holding a racing magazine he had marked with his bets. “But I come here on Sundays to unwind. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Nearby, a section of the stands was dedicated to government workers and uniformed members of a pro-Maduro civilian militia.

As the races took place, children formed long lines to use a variety of bouncy castles set up next to the track. But in many families, children were the ones interested in the races, not the adults.

“The children love horse racing; they’re fascinated by it,” Roxany Hernández said as her 10-year-old son and other children tried to get pictures of the jockeys. “Despite the difficulties, we’re working, we’re enjoying ourselves.”

Among the jockeys the crowd cheered on was American Katie Davis, who rode Silk Eyes to victory, despite a U.S. travel alert warning citizens against visiting the country sent before the military operation began earlier this year.

Davis said she arrived to Venezuela hours before the event. She explained she “was a little nervous being” in Venezuela but also “felt very safe.”

“Everybody has their opinion on it,” Davis said of her visit. “It’s like life in general, you can listen or you can do what you think is best. At the end of the day, it’s your life on the line, just like horse racing, our lives are on the line, and I come in peace.”

An owner kisses Latina Parts during the 56th Jockey Challenge at the Rinconada racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Arian Cubillos)

Spectators attend the 56th Jockey Challenge at the Rinconada racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Arian Cubillos)

Spectators watch horse races during the 56th Jockey Challenge at the Rinconada racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Arian Cubillos)

Jockey Katie Davis, of the United States, celebrates after winning a race during the 56th Jockey Challenge 56 at Rinconada racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Arian Cubillos)

Jockeys launch from the starting gate during the 56th Jockey Challenge at Rinconada racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Arian Cubillos)

Children play during the 56th Jockey Challenge at the Rinconada racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Arian Cubillos)

Jockeys race during the 56th Jockey Challenge at the Rinconada racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Arian Cubillos)

Spectators watch horse racing during the 56th Jockey Challenge at the Rinconada racetrack in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Arian Cubillos)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police are set to present a case to prosecutors Tuesday following Nick Reiner's arrest in the killings of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, which stunned their communities in Hollywood and Democratic politics, where both were widely beloved.

Prosecutors are set to decide whether and how to charge 32-year-old Nick Reiner, who is being held in jail without bail. He was arrested several hours after his parents were found dead in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on Sunday, police said.

Rob Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom “All in the Family” who went on to direct films including “When Harry Met Sally..." and ”The Princess Bride" He was an outspoken liberal activist for decades. Michele Singer Reiner was a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. They had been married for 36 years.

Representatives for the Reiner family did not respond to requests for comment, and it wasn’t clear if Nick Reiner had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Police haven’t said anything about a motive for the killings.

Investigators believe Rob and Michelle Singer Reiner died from stab wounds, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official, who was briefed on the investigation, could not publicly discuss the details and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The killings were especially shocking given the warm comic legacy of the family. Rob Reiner was the son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, who died in 2020 at age 98.

Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar as the star of Rob Reiner's 1990 film “Misery,” was among those paying tribute to the couple.

“I loved Rob," Bates said in a statement. “He was brilliant and kind, a man who made films of every genre to challenge himself as an artist. He also fought courageously for his political beliefs. He changed the course of my life. Michele was a gifted photographer.”

Bill Clinton called the couple “good, generous people who made everyone who knew them better.”

“Hillary and I are heartbroken by the tragic deaths of our friends Rob and Michele Reiner," he said in a statement. “They inspired and uplifted millions through their work in film and television.”

Three months ago, Nick Reiner was photographed with his parents and siblings at the premiere of his father's film “Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues.”

He had spoken publicly of his struggles with addiction, cycling in and out of treatment facilities with bouts of homelessness in between through his teen years. Rob and Nick Reiner explored — and seemed to improve — their relationship through the making of the 2016 film, “Being Charlie.”

Nick Reiner co-wrote and Rob Reiner directed the film about the struggles of an addicted son and a famous father. It was not autobiographical but included several elements of their lives.

“It forced us to understand ourselves better than we had,” Rob Reiner told the AP in 2016. “I told Nick while we were making it, I said, ‘You know it doesn’t matter, whatever happens to this thing, we won already.’"

Rob Reiner was long one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, and his work included some of the most memorable and endlessly watchable movies of the 1980s and ’90s, including “This is Spinal Tap” and “A Few Good Men.”

He met Michele Singer Reiner on the set of “When Harry Met Sally...," and their meeting would inspire the film's shift to a happy ending, with stars Billy Crystal — one of Reiner's closest friends for decades — and Meg Ryan ending up together on New Year's Eve.

The Reiners were outspoken advocates for liberal causes and major Democratic donors.

President Donald Trump on Monday blamed Rob Reiner’s outspoken opposition to the president for the actor-director’s killing, delivering the unsubstantiated claim in a social media post that seemed intent on decrying his opponents even in the face of a tragedy.

Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed.

An aerial view shows Rob Reiner's residence Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

A security guard stands outside Rob Reiner's residence Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)

Flowers cover the Walk of Fame star for Rob Reiner Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

FILE - Rob Reiner arrives at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network's Respect Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

A police officer blocks off a street near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

ADDITION ADDS MAIDEN NAME: FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

Rob Reiner, from left, Michele Singer Reiner, Romy Reiner, Nick Reiner, Maria Gilfillan, and Jake Reiner arrive at the premiere of "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues" on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Flowers cover the Walk of Fame star for Rob Reiner Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)